Neeraj
Of Sanskrit origin meaning "pure, virtuous".
Name Census estimates that about 315 living Americans carry the first name Neeraj. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Neeraj today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Neeraj births was 1980 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Neeraj. 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 Neeraj with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
315
~ 1 in 1,088,109 Americans
Peak year
1980
14 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2017 SSA rank
#11,764
Tracked since 1970
Census
Neeraj in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,837 people with the first name Neeraj, which placed it at #8,015 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
#8,015
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,837 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neeraj
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neeraj is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Neeraj 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 Neeraj at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.0% · 1,763
- White2.0% · 36
- Black or African American0.9% · 16
- Two or more races0.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 4
Popularity
Neeraj: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Neeraj from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 88 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Neeraj remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Neeraj 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 Neeraj during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Neerajs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Neeraj
The name Neeraj has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indian language that dates back thousands of years. It is derived from the Sanskrit words "nir" meaning "without" and "raj" meaning "dust" or "impurity." Thus, the name Neeraj can be interpreted to mean "one who is free from impurities" or "pure."
The name Neeraj has been mentioned in various ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Puranas. It is believed to have been used as a name for boys in ancient India, particularly among the Brahmin community, which was known for its emphasis on spiritual purity and knowledge.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Neeraj can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic that dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In the Mahabharata, there is a character named Neeraj who was a skilled warrior and a loyal friend of the Pandava princes.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Neeraj. One of the most famous was Neeraj Chopra, an Indian javelin thrower who won the gold medal in the men's javelin throw event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He was born in 1997 and hails from the state of Haryana, India.
Another notable Neeraj was Neeraj Kabi, an Indian actor known for his work in both film and theater. He was born in 1967 and has appeared in several critically acclaimed movies, including "Talvar" and "Byomkesh Bakshi."
In the field of literature, Neeraj Ghaywan is a renowned Indian film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed film "Masaan" in 2015, which won several awards and accolades both nationally and internationally.
Neeraj Pandey is another prominent figure, known for his work as an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He has directed several successful Bollywood films, including "A Wednesday," "Special 26," and "Baby."
Neeraj Chopra, the cricketer, was an Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket for Punjab and represented India in several Test matches and One Day Internationals in the 1980s and 1990s. He was born in 1961 and is considered one of the finest left-arm spinners in Indian cricket history.
People
Neeraj + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Neeraj 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
Neeraj: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Neeraj?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 315 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Neeraj 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 1,088,109 US residents.
Is Neeraj a common name?
We classify Neeraj as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 327 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Neeraj most popular?
The single biggest year for Neeraj was 1980, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Neeraj is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Neeraj in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,837 people with the name Neeraj, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,015 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 Neeraj 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 Neeraj?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Neeraj leans strongly male. 1,756 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 80 female bearers (4.4%). 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 Neeraj?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neeraj is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Neeraj most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Neeraj in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.0% (1,763 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 Neeraj in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Neeraj a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Neeraj 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 Neeraj still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Neeraj 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 Neeraj 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 Neeraj as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Neeraj, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.