Niraj
A masculine Indian name meaning "giver of water" or "clear, bright".
Name Census estimates that about 318 living Americans carry the first name Niraj. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Niraj today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Niraj births was 1991 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Niraj. 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 Niraj with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
318
~ 1 in 1,077,844 Americans
Peak year
1991
17 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2019 SSA rank
#10,489
Tracked since 1970
Census
Niraj in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,264 people with the first name Niraj, which placed it at #10,513 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
#10,513
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,264 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Niraj
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niraj is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Niraj 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 Niraj at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.9% · 1,199
- White2.2% · 28
- Two or more races1.7% · 22
- Black or African American0.6% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Niraj: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Niraj 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 108 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Niraj 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 Niraj during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nirajs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Niraj
The name Niraj has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit words 'nir' meaning 'without' and 'raj' meaning 'dust' or 'impurity'. Together, the name Niraj can be interpreted to mean 'pure' or 'without impurity'.
The earliest recorded use of the name Niraj can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was often used as a descriptive term for deities or spiritual beings embodying purity and divinity. In the Vedas, one of the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, there are references to the concept of 'niraja', which means 'free from all impurities'.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Niraj was Niraj Shastri, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 8th century CE in the city of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. His works, including the epic poem 'Naishdhiyacharita', are celebrated for their poetic mastery and philosophical depth.
Another notable figure in history with the name Niraj was Niraj Srivastava, a prominent Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary from the early 20th century. Born in 1895 in Uttar Pradesh, he played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule and was part of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
In the realm of literature, Niraj Patel was a celebrated Gujarati poet and writer from the 20th century. Born in 1929 in Gujarat, India, his works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. He was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993 for his poetry collection 'Kavya Surabhi'.
Another figure of note is Niraj Naik, an Indian classical musician and Hindustani singer from the 20th century. Born in 1949 in Maharashtra, India, he was a prominent exponent of the Khayal and Thumri styles of Hindustani classical music and was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2020.
In the field of science, Niraj Srivastava was an eminent Indian physicist and academic who made significant contributions to the study of high-energy particle physics. Born in 1944 in Uttar Pradesh, he served as the Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai from 2004 to 2009.
People
Niraj + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Niraj 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
Niraj: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Niraj?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 318 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Niraj 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 1,077,844 US residents.
Is Niraj a common name?
We classify Niraj as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Niraj most popular?
The single biggest year for Niraj was 1991, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Niraj is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Niraj in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,264 people with the name Niraj, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,513 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 Niraj 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 Niraj?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Niraj leans strongly male. 1,244 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 19 female bearers (1.5%). 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 Niraj?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niraj is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Niraj most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Niraj in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.9% (1,199 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 Niraj in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Niraj a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Niraj 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 Niraj still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Niraj 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 Niraj 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 named Niraj?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.