Janisha
A feminine name derived from Sanskrit meaning "belonging to the Divine".
Name Census estimates that about 914 living Americans carry the first name Janisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Janisha today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Janisha births was 1994 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Janisha. 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 Janisha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
914
~ 1 in 375,005 Americans
Peak year
1994
58 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,782
Tracked since 1972
Census
Janisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 717 people with the first name Janisha, which placed it at #15,898 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
#15,898
National first-name rank
People counted
717
717 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janisha is Black at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Janisha 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 Janisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.1% · 524
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 81
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 57
- Two or more races3.6% · 26
- White3.2% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Popularity
Janisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Janisha from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 397 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Janisha 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 Janisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Janishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Janisha, while Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Janisha
The name Janisha has its origins in the Sanskrit language, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit words "Jana" meaning people or mankind, and "Isha" meaning lord or master. The name can be interpreted to mean "Lord of the People" or "Ruler of Mankind."
Janisha was a name that gained prominence during the ancient Vedic period in India, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. During this time, the name was associated with Hindu deities and influential figures in the Vedic scriptures and texts, such as the Upanishads and the Puranas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Janisha can be found in the Mahabharata, a ancient Indian epic dating back to the 8th or 9th century BCE. The name is mentioned in reference to a sage or rishi who played a significant role in the epic's events.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Janisha. One such figure was Janisha Narayanan, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 14th century CE. He made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry and is credited with developing the concept of the sine and cosine functions.
Another historical figure bearing the name Janisha was Janisha Devi, a queen of the Garhwal Kingdom in the present-day Indian state of Uttarakhand. She ruled in the 17th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and her efforts in promoting religious and cultural activities in her kingdom.
In the world of literature, Janisha Rani was a celebrated Urdu poet who lived in the 18th century. Her poetry, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, gained widespread acclaim and influenced many subsequent writers in the Urdu literary tradition.
Another notable Janisha was Janisha Bai, a courtesan and poet in the court of the Maratha Peshwa rulers in the 18th century. She was renowned for her skill in poetry, dance, and music, and her contributions to the cultural life of the Maratha Empire.
Lastly, Janisha Chattopadhyay was a prominent Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She played an active role in the Indian independence movement and advocated for women's rights and education.
People
Janisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Janisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Janisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Janisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 914 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Janisha 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 375,005 US residents.
Is Janisha a common name?
We classify Janisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 948 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Janisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Janisha was 1994, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Janisha is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Janisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 717 people with the name Janisha, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,898 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 Janisha 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 Janisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 720 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Janisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janisha is Black at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Janisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Janisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.1% (524 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 Janisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Janisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Janisha 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 Janisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Janisha 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 Janisha 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 have the name Janisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.