Lekha
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "writing" or "beautiful writing".
Name Census estimates that about 111 living Americans carry the first name Lekha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lekha today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lekha births was 2001 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lekha. 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.
People living today
111
~ 1 in 3,087,877 Americans
Peak year
2001
11 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,004
Tracked since 1996
Census
Lekha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 406 people with the first name Lekha, which placed it at #23,937 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
#23,937
National first-name rank
People counted
406
406 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lekha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lekha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and White (3.0%). 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 Lekha 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 Lekha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.6% · 368
- Two or more races4.2% · 17
- White3.0% · 12
- Black or African American1.0% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Lekha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lekha from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lekha 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 Lekha 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 Lekha
The name Lekha has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "lekha," which means "writing" or "inscription." This connection suggests that the name may have been initially associated with professions or individuals involved in writing or record-keeping.
In Hindu mythology, Lekha is also the name of a celestial nymph or apsara, mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. The presence of this name in such an ancient text indicates its longstanding use in Indian culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lekha can be found in the Gupta Empire, which ruled over parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE. During this period, the name was borne by several prominent individuals, including Lekha, a renowned poet and scholar who lived during the reign of Chandragupta II (375-415 CE).
In the 12th century, Lekha was the name of a celebrated poetess and courtesan from the Pala Empire in Bengal. She was known for her exceptional beauty and literary talents, and her works were widely appreciated by scholars and royalty alike.
Moving forward in time, Lekha Mehta (1944-2012) was an Indian social worker and activist who dedicated her life to the empowerment of women and children. She founded the non-profit organization Lekha Mehta Trust, which works towards providing education and vocational training to underprivileged communities.
Another notable bearer of the name was Lekha Mukherjee (1919-2003), an Indian classical singer and music educator. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, for her contributions to Hindustani music.
In the realm of literature, Lekha Naidu (1930-2009) was a renowned Indian poet and writer. Her works, written in both English and Telugu, explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. She received several prestigious awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Bhushan.
People
Lekha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lekha 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
Lekha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lekha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lekha 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 3,087,877 US residents.
Is Lekha a common name?
We classify Lekha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lekha most popular?
The single biggest year for Lekha was 2001, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lekha 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 Lekha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 406 people with the name Lekha, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,937 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 Lekha 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 Lekha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lekha leans strongly female. 387 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 16 male bearers (4.0%). 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 Lekha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lekha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and White (3.0%). 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 Lekha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Lekha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (368 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 Lekha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lekha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lekha 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 Lekha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lekha 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 Lekha 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 called Lekha?
You can see how many Americans are named Lekha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.