Lalith
A Sanskrit masculine name meaning "he who plays beautifully".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Lalith. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lalith today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lalith births was 2008 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lalith. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lalith. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2008
5 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2008 SSA rank
#13,735
Tracked since 2008
Census
Lalith in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 193 people with the first name Lalith, which placed it at #39,252 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
#39,252
National first-name rank
People counted
193
193 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
99.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lalith
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lalith is Asian/Pacific Islander at 99.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%). 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 Lalith 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 Lalith at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander99.0% · 191
- White1.0% · 2
Popularity
Lalith: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Lalith 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 Lalith during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Lalith
The name Lalith has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "lalita," which means "graceful," "charming," or "attractive." The name is believed to have been in use since ancient times in the Indian subcontinent.
Lalith is a popular name in Hinduism and is found in several ancient Hindu texts and scriptures. One of the earliest mentions of the name can be found in the Lalita Sahasranama, a sacred Hindu text that consists of 1,000 names of the Hindu goddess Lalita or Tripura Sundari. The text is a part of the Brahmanda Purana and is believed to have been composed between the 6th and 9th centuries CE.
Another notable historical reference to the name Lalith is found in the Lalitavistara Sutra, which is a Mahayana Buddhist text that narrates the life of Gautama Buddha. The name "Lalita" is used in the text to describe the prince's graceful and charming demeanor.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Lalith. One of the earliest recorded examples is Lalitaditya Muktapida, who was a renowned king of the Karkota dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. He reigned from 724 to 760 CE and is known for his military conquests and patronage of art and architecture.
Another famous bearer of the name was Lalitadipak Kambampati, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 17th century. He made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and is credited with developing new methods for calculating planetary positions.
In the realm of literature, Lalith Mukherjee (1924-2010) was a highly acclaimed Indian writer and literary critic. He was a recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award and is known for his works that explored themes of identity, culture, and social issues.
In the field of music, Lalith J. Saldanha (1936-2011) was a renowned Indian classical musician and composer. He was a master of the sitar and is credited with popularizing Indian classical music in the West through his collaborations with various international artists.
Lalith Athulathmudali (1936-1993) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician and cabinet minister. He served as the Minister of National Security and played a crucial role in the country's efforts to combat terrorism and civil unrest.
People
Lalith + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lalith as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lalith: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lalith?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lalith 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Lalith a common name?
We classify Lalith as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lalith most popular?
The single biggest year for Lalith was 2008, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lalith is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lalith in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 193 people with the name Lalith, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,252 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 Lalith 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 Lalith?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lalith leans strongly male. 187 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 11 female bearers (5.6%). 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 Lalith?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lalith is Asian/Pacific Islander at 99.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%). 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 Lalith most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Lalith in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.0% (191 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 Lalith in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lalith a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lalith 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 Lalith still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lalith 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 Lalith 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 share the name Lalith?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.