Latha
A feminine name of Indian origin meaning "slender" or "delicate".
Name Census estimates that about 38 living Americans carry the first name Latha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Latha today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Latha births was 1930 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Latha. 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 Latha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
38
~ 1 in 9,019,851 Americans
Peak year
1930
12 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1980 SSA rank
#9,732
Tracked since 1898
Census
Latha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,203 people with the first name Latha, which placed it at #10,879 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
#10,879
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,203 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Latha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Latha 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 Latha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.8% · 1,068
- White6.7% · 80
- Black or African American3.2% · 39
- Two or more races1.0% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Latha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Latha from the 1890s through to the 1980s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 69 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Latha 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 Latha 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 Latha
The name Latha originates from the Sanskrit language and has its roots in ancient Indian culture. It is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word "lata," which means "creeper" or "vine." The name dates back to the Vedic period, which spans from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
In Hinduism, the name Latha is associated with the goddess Parvati, who is also known as Lata or Latha. She is the consort of Lord Shiva and is revered as the embodiment of divine love, fertility, and devotion. The name appears in various Hindu scriptures, including the Puranas and the Mahabharata.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Latha was Latha Devi, a legendary queen who lived in the 6th century BCE. She was the wife of King Udayana, and their love story is celebrated in the Sanskrit play "Ratnavali" by the renowned playwright Harsha.
Another notable figure was Latha, a famous courtesan and poet who lived during the 7th century CE in the court of King Harsha Vardhana. She was renowned for her beauty, intelligence, and literary talents, and her poems are still studied and admired today.
In the 12th century, Latha Pandita was a celebrated scholar and poet from Kashmir. She was known for her expertise in various fields, including grammar, philosophy, and poetry. Her works, such as the "Latha Vakya Vritti," are considered significant contributions to Sanskrit literature.
During the reign of the Vijayanagar Empire in the 15th century, Latha Kavi was a prominent female poet and scholar. She was patronized by the royal court and wrote extensively on topics ranging from religion to philosophy.
In more recent times, Latha Rajinikanth is a well-known Indian film producer and the wife of the famous actor Rajinikanth. She has produced several successful Tamil films and is respected for her contributions to the Indian film industry.
While the name Latha has its origins in ancient India, it has transcended cultural boundaries and is now used in various parts of the world, particularly in South Asia and among the Indian diaspora. However, its rich historical and cultural significance remains deeply rooted in its Sanskrit heritage.
People
Latha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Latha 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
Latha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Latha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 38 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Latha 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 9,019,851 US residents.
Is Latha a common name?
We classify Latha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 215 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Latha most popular?
The single biggest year for Latha was 1930, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Latha is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Latha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,203 people with the name Latha, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,879 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 Latha 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 Latha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Latha leans strongly female. 1,183 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 24 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Latha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Latha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Latha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.8% (1,068 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 Latha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Latha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Latha 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 Latha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Latha 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 Latha 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 Latha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.