Narayana
A Sanskrit masculine name meaning the source of all beings or the supreme being.
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Narayana. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Narayana today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Narayana births was 1979 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Narayana. 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 Narayana. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1979
6 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2006 SSA rank
#13,412
Tracked since 1979
Census
Narayana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 396 people with the first name Narayana, which placed it at #24,370 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
#24,370
National first-name rank
People counted
396
396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
73.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Narayana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Narayana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 73.5%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Narayana 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 Narayana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander73.5% · 291
- White9.8% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 25
- Black or African American5.1% · 20
- Two or more races4.3% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Narayana
Narayana is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 22 total registrations, 17 (77.3%) were male and 5 (22.7%) were female.
Narayana as a male name
- Ranked #13,412 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1979 (6 births)
Narayana as a female name
- Ranked #17,323 in 2002
- 5 female births in 2002
- Peak: 2002 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Narayana leans strongly male. 350 people counted with this name were male (89.1%), compared with 43 female bearers (10.9%).
Popularity
Narayana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Narayana from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 10 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Narayana 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 Narayana 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 Narayana
The name Narayana has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the words "nara" meaning "human" or "man," and "ayana" meaning "resting place" or "refuge." This combination translates to "the abode or refuge of humans," a name that has deep religious and cultural significance in Hinduism.
Narayana is one of the many names used to refer to the Supreme Being or the Godhead in Hindu scriptures and mythology. It is particularly associated with Lord Vishnu, the preserver and protector of the universe in the Hindu trinity. The name is mentioned in various ancient Hindu texts, including the Vedas, Upanishads, and the epic Mahabharata.
One of the earliest recorded references to Narayana can be found in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, an influential Upanishad dating back to around the 6th century BCE. Here, Narayana is described as the Supreme Being, the source of all creation, and the ultimate refuge for all beings.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Narayana. One of the most famous is Narayana Bhatta (c. 1560-1640), a renowned Sanskrit scholar and author from the Indian state of Kerala. He is known for his works on grammar, philosophy, and astronomy, including the celebrated text "Narayaniya."
Another historical figure with this name is Narayana Guru (1856-1928), a social reformer and spiritual leader from Kerala. He played a significant role in promoting social equality and fighting against the caste system in India. His teachings and philosophy of "One Caste, One Religion, One God for Mankind" had a profound impact on the region.
Narayana Pandita (c. 13th century) was a prominent Hindu philosopher and logician from Kashmir. He is celebrated for his works on the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, particularly his commentary on the Brahma Sutras, a foundational text of Vedanta.
In the field of mathematics, Narayana Pandit (c. 14th century) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer from the state of Maharashtra. He is known for his contributions to the study of infinite series and his work on the so-called "Narayana cows" problem, which involves the application of recursion relations.
Lastly, Narayana Ayyar (1871-1945) was a renowned Indian lawyer, judge, and legal scholar from Tamil Nadu. He served as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and was a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest court of appeal for the British Empire at the time.
People
Narayana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Narayana 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
Narayana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Narayana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Narayana 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Narayana a common name?
We classify Narayana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Narayana most popular?
The single biggest year for Narayana was 1979, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Narayana is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Narayana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 396 people with the name Narayana, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,370 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 Narayana 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 Narayana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Narayana leans strongly male. 350 people counted with this name were male (89.1%), compared with 43 female bearers (10.9%). 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 Narayana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Narayana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 73.5%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Narayana most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Narayana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.5% (291 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 Narayana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Narayana a male name?
Yes, 77.3% of people registered as Narayana 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 Narayana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Narayana 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 Narayana 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 common is the name Narayana?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Narayana on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.