Naman
A masculine Sanskrit name meaning "salutation, greeting, and reverence".
Name Census estimates that about 493 living Americans carry the first name Naman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Naman today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Naman births was 2010 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Naman. 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 Naman with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
493
~ 1 in 695,242 Americans
Peak year
2010
28 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,815
Tracked since 1915
Census
Naman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 913 people with the first name Naman, which placed it at #13,282 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
#13,282
National first-name rank
People counted
913
913 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
80.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Naman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 80.6%. The next largest groups are White (10.8%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Naman 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 Naman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander80.6% · 736
- White10.8% · 99
- Black or African American4.1% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 22
- Two or more races1.3% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 7
Popularity
Naman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Naman from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 172 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Naman remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Naman 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 Naman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Namans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Naman
The name Naman is believed to have its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "naman," which means "to bow" or "to salute." This name has been in use for centuries in various parts of South Asia, particularly in regions where Hinduism and Buddhism have had a significant cultural influence.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Naman can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, which date back to the second millennium BCE. In these sacred texts, the name is often associated with reverence, humility, and respect, reflecting the meaning of its Sanskrit root.
Throughout history, several prominent figures have borne the name Naman. One of the most notable is Naman Malik, a 13th-century Indian poet and scholar from the Delhi Sultanate era. His poetic works, written in Persian, have been widely studied and celebrated for their literary excellence.
Another historical figure with the name Naman is Naman P. Ahuja (1915-2008), an Indian lawyer and jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court from 1975 to 1977. He was known for his judicial integrity and commitment to upholding the rule of law.
In the realm of literature, Naman Nath Pradhan (1930-2019) was a renowned Nepali poet and essayist. His works explored themes of identity, culture, and the human condition, earning him numerous accolades, including the prestigious Sajha Puraskar in 1998.
The name Naman has also been associated with religious figures. One such example is Naman Ahuja, a contemporary Indian spiritual leader and founder of the Awakin Circles movement, which promotes mindfulness, selfless service, and inner transformation.
Another historical figure bearing the name Naman is Naman Vyas (1835-1901), an Indian intellectual and social reformer from the state of Gujarat. He played a crucial role in promoting education and advocating for the rights of marginalized communities during the British colonial era.
While the name Naman has its roots in Sanskrit and South Asian cultures, it has transcended geographical boundaries and has been adopted by people of various backgrounds and ethnicities worldwide, reflecting the diverse and interconnected nature of human societies.
People
Naman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Naman as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Naman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Naman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 493 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Naman 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 695,242 US residents.
Is Naman a common name?
We classify Naman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 513 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Naman most popular?
The single biggest year for Naman was 2010, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Naman 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 Naman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 913 people with the name Naman, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,282 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 Naman 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 Naman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Naman leans strongly male. 884 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 29 female bearers (3.2%). 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 Naman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 80.6%. The next largest groups are White (10.8%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Naman most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Naman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.6% (736 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 Naman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Naman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Naman 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 Naman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Naman 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 Naman 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 Naman?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Naman, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.