Nishant
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "night's end" or "dawn".
Name Census estimates that about 602 living Americans carry the first name Nishant. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nishant today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nishant births was 2001 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nishant. 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 Nishant with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
602
~ 1 in 569,359 Americans
Peak year
2001
27 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,495
Tracked since 1979
Census
Nishant in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,901 people with the first name Nishant, which placed it at #7,833 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
#7,833
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,901 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nishant
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nishant is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.5%. The next largest groups are White (3.1%) 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 Nishant 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 Nishant at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.5% · 1,777
- White3.1% · 58
- Two or more races1.7% · 32
- Black or African American0.8% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Popularity
Nishant: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nishant from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 220 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
Nishant 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 Nishant during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nishants live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the most babies named Nishant, while New York, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nishant
Nishant is a name of Indian origin, derived from the Sanskrit word "nishant," which means "the end" or "the final goal." The name is primarily used by Hindus and has been in existence for several centuries.
The earliest known reference to the name Nishant can be found in ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, where it is used as a metaphor for the ultimate spiritual enlightenment or the realization of one's true self. In these texts, the name symbolizes the end of the cycle of birth and death, and the attainment of moksha (liberation).
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Nishant was Nishant Shastri, a renowned Indian scholar and philosopher who lived in the 8th century CE. Shastri was a prominent figure in the Advaita Vedanta tradition and is credited with several influential works on Hindu philosophy.
In the 12th century, Nishant Singh was a famous warrior and military commander who served under the Chauhan dynasty in what is now the state of Rajasthan, India. Singh played a pivotal role in defending the region against foreign invaders and is celebrated for his bravery and tactical prowess.
Another notable individual with the name Nishant was Nishant Chaitanya, a 16th-century Indian mystic and spiritual leader. Chaitanya was a prominent figure in the Bhakti movement and is revered for his devotional poetry and teachings on the path of love and devotion to the divine.
In more recent history, Nishant Kaushik was an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule in the early 20th century. Kaushik was a member of the Indian National Congress and was arrested and imprisoned multiple times for his involvement in the struggle for independence.
Another famous Nishant was Nishant Mukherjee, an Indian cricketer who played for the national team in the 1960s and 1970s. Mukherjee was a talented opening batsman and is remembered for his numerous match-winning performances, including a historic innings against the West Indies in 1971.
People
Nishant + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nishant 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
Nishant: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nishant?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 602 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nishant 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 569,359 US residents.
Is Nishant a common name?
We classify Nishant as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 615 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nishant most popular?
The single biggest year for Nishant was 2001, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nishant is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nishant in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,901 people with the name Nishant, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,833 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 Nishant 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 Nishant?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nishant appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,900 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Nishant?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nishant is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.5%. The next largest groups are White (3.1%) 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 Nishant most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nishant in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (1,777 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 Nishant in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nishant a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nishant 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 Nishant still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nishant 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 Nishant 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 Nishant as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Nishant, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.