Meghana
A feminine name of Hindu origin meaning "rain cloud".
Name Census estimates that about 948 living Americans carry the first name Meghana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meghana today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meghana births was 2001 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meghana. 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 Meghana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
948
~ 1 in 361,555 Americans
Peak year
2001
65 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,713
Tracked since 1982
Census
Meghana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,867 people with the first name Meghana, which placed it at #7,919 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
#7,919
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,867 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meghana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meghana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Meghana 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 Meghana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.7% · 1,750
- White2.8% · 52
- Two or more races1.9% · 35
- Black or African American0.8% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 7
Popularity
Meghana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meghana from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 524 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
Meghana 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 Meghana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meghanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Meghana, while New York, North Carolina, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meghana
The name Meghana has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest classical languages of the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word "megha," which means "cloud" or "rain," suggesting a connection to nature and the elements.
In Hindu mythology, the name Meghana is associated with the goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth, fortune, and prosperity. This association reflects the cultural significance and auspicious connotations attached to the name, making it a popular choice for parents seeking to bestow blessings upon their children.
The earliest recorded use of the name Meghana can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Puranas and the Vedas. These sacred texts often featured characters with names that represented qualities or elements of nature, reflecting the deep reverence for the natural world in Indian culture.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Meghana. One of the earliest known examples is Meghana Devi, a 10th-century Indian queen and the wife of the Paramara king Munja. She was renowned for her patronage of the arts and literature during her reign.
Another prominent figure was Meghana Gulzar, an Indian film actress and dancer who lived from 1957 to 2018. She was known for her roles in several Bollywood films and her contributions to the preservation of classical Indian dance forms.
In the field of literature, Meghana Pant, an Indian writer and poet born in 1972, has gained recognition for her works that explore themes of identity, feminism, and social issues. Her poetry collections have been widely acclaimed and translated into multiple languages.
Meghana Naravane, born in 1982, is a notable Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her performances and contributions to the field of Bharatanatyam, a major classical Indian dance form.
Lastly, Meghana Raj is an Indian actress and model born in 1988. She has appeared in several Kannada and Telugu films and has garnered a significant following for her acting abilities and on-screen presence.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Meghana throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry associated with this name.
People
Meghana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meghana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Meghana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meghana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 948 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meghana 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 361,555 US residents.
Is Meghana a common name?
We classify Meghana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 966 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meghana most popular?
The single biggest year for Meghana was 2001, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meghana is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Meghana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,867 people with the name Meghana, or 0.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,919 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 Meghana 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 Meghana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Meghana appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,862 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Meghana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Meghana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Meghana most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Meghana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (1,750 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 Meghana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meghana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meghana 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 Meghana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meghana 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 Meghana 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 Meghana as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Meghana, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.