Guru
A Sanskrit word meaning "teacher" or "master" in Hindu philosophy.
Name Census estimates that about 13 living Americans carry the first name Guru. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Guru today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Guru births was 2015 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Guru. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Guru with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Guru. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
13
~ 1 in 26,365,718 Americans
Peak year
2015
8 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2015 SSA rank
#9,034
Tracked since 2007
Census
Guru in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 373 people with the first name Guru, which placed it at #25,428 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,428
National first-name rank
People counted
373
373 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
89.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guru
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Guru is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.5%. The next largest groups are White (6.4%) and Black (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Guru described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Guru at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander89.5% · 334
- White6.4% · 24
- Black or African American2.4% · 9
- Two or more races1.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Popularity
Guru: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Guru from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 8 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Guru by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Guru during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Guru
The name Guru has its origins in the Sanskrit language, one of the oldest and most influential languages of the Indian subcontinent. The word "guru" is derived from the Sanskrit root "gri," which means "to invoke" or "to praise." It is believed to have emerged as a personal name during the ancient Vedic period in India, which dates back to around 1500-500 BCE.
The term "guru" has a deep-rooted significance in various Indian philosophical and spiritual traditions. In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, a guru is a respected spiritual teacher or guide who imparts knowledge and wisdom to their disciples. The concept of a guru is central to these belief systems, as they are revered as enlightened beings who can help others on their path to self-realization and inner peace.
One of the earliest and most notable references to the name Guru can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures known as the Upanishads, which were composed between 800-200 BCE. The Upanishads contain teachings and dialogues between gurus and their students, emphasizing the importance of self-knowledge and spiritual enlightenment.
Throughout history, there have been numerous influential figures who bore the name Guru or were revered as gurus:
1. Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh gurus. He preached a message of unity, equality, and devotion to one formless God.
2. Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the tenth and final human guru in the Sikh tradition. He institutionalized the Khalsa and declared the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism, as the eternal living guru.
3. Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606), the fifth Sikh guru who compiled and organized the Adi Granth, the first official edition of the Sikh scriptures.
4. Guru Padmasambhava (8th century CE), also known as the "Second Buddha," was a renowned Buddhist master who played a significant role in the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet and the Himalayan regions.
5. Guru Shyamji Krishna Varier (1857-1934), an influential Indian philosopher and social reformer who promoted the concept of "Brahmavidya," a synthesis of ancient Hindu teachings and modern scientific thought.
The name Guru has transcended religious and cultural boundaries and has become a widely recognized term, often used to refer to respected teachers, mentors, or experts in various fields, reflecting the reverence and admiration associated with this name.
People
Guru + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Guru as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Guru: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Guru?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Guru going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 26,365,718 US residents.
Is Guru a common name?
We classify Guru as "Very Rare". It ranks above 33.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Guru most popular?
The single biggest year for Guru was 2015, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Guru is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Guru in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 373 people with the name Guru, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,428 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Guru in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Guru?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Guru leans strongly male. 356 people counted with this name were male (94.7%), compared with 20 female bearers (5.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Guru?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Guru is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.5%. The next largest groups are White (6.4%) and Black (2.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Guru most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Guru in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (334 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Guru in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Guru a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Guru in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Guru still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Guru in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Guru can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Guru?
Find out how many people share the name Guru on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.