Hanya
A feminine Arabic name meaning "joy, happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 102 living Americans carry the first name Hanya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hanya today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hanya births was 2006 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hanya. 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 Hanya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
102
~ 1 in 3,360,337 Americans
Peak year
2006
8 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,038
Tracked since 1945
Census
Hanya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 208 people with the first name Hanya, which placed it at #37,486 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
#37,486
National first-name rank
People counted
208
208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hanya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hanya is White at 44.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.2%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Hanya 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 Hanya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.2% · 92
- Asian and Pacific Islander32.2% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 21
- Black or African American8.2% · 17
- Two or more races5.3% · 11
Popularity
Hanya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hanya from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 46 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hanya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hanya 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 Hanya 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 Hanya
The name Hanya originates from the Sanskrit language and has its roots in ancient Indian culture. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "hanya," which means "to strike down" or "to conquer." It is closely related to the Hindu goddess Durga, who is often depicted as a powerful warrior goddess slaying demons and conquering evil forces.
In Hindu mythology, Hanya is also associated with the concept of "aham-brahmasmi," which translates to "I am the Absolute" or "I am the Supreme Consciousness." This connection suggests that the name Hanya may have been bestowed upon individuals who were considered spiritually enlightened or possessed a deep understanding of the divine.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Hanya can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas. These sacred texts often mention the exploits of various deities and their devotees, some of whom may have borne the name Hanya.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who carried the name Hanya. One such figure was Hanya Narayana, a 16th-century Hindu philosopher and spiritual leader who authored several treatises on Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic school of Hindu philosophy.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Hanya Shrestha, a Nepalese poet and writer from the 19th century. Shrestha's works were influential in shaping the literary landscape of Nepal and are still widely studied and appreciated today.
In the realm of politics, Hanya Mukherjee was an influential figure in the Indian independence movement of the early 20th century. As a member of the Indian National Congress, she played a pivotal role in advocating for women's rights and social reforms.
Hanya Holm, born in 1893, was a pioneering American dancer and choreographer who helped shape the modern dance movement in the United States. Her innovative techniques and choreographic works have left a lasting impact on the world of dance.
Lastly, Hanya Yanagihara is a contemporary American author and editor, best known for her critically acclaimed novel "A Little Life," which won several prestigious literary awards and brought her international recognition.
People
Hanya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hanya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hanya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hanya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hanya 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 3,360,337 US residents.
Is Hanya a common name?
We classify Hanya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hanya most popular?
The single biggest year for Hanya was 2006, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hanya is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hanya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 208 people with the name Hanya, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,486 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 Hanya 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 Hanya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hanya appears almost entirely female. Of the 207 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Hanya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hanya is White at 44.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.2%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Hanya most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hanya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.2% (92 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 Hanya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hanya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hanya in the SSA data are female. 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 Hanya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hanya 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 Hanya 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 Hanya?
Find out how many Americans are named Hanya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.