Param
Of Hindi origin meaning supreme or transcendent.
Name Census estimates that about 444 living Americans carry the first name Param. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Param today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Param births was 2017 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Param. 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 Param with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
444
~ 1 in 771,969 Americans
Peak year
2017
36 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,820
Tracked since 1995
Census
Param in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 567 people with the first name Param, which placed it at #18,871 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
#18,871
National first-name rank
People counted
567
567 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Param
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Param is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (1.8%). 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 Param 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 Param at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.4% · 524
- White3.9% · 22
- Black or African American1.8% · 10
- Two or more races1.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
Popularity
Param: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Param from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 220 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Param remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Param 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 Param during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Params live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New Jersey, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Param, while Georgia, California, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Param
The name Param is derived from the Sanskrit language, which originated in ancient India around the 2nd millennium BCE. It is a masculine name with roots in the Sanskrit word "parama," meaning supreme, ultimate, or transcendent.
In Hindu philosophy and religious texts, the term "Param" is often used to refer to the ultimate reality, the highest truth, or the supreme being. It is associated with concepts of enlightenment, spiritual transcendence, and the attainment of divine knowledge.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Param can be found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where it appears as a name of one of the Pandava brothers. This ancient text, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE, is a significant part of Hindu mythology and literature.
Throughout history, the name Param has been borne by several notable figures, including Param Anand (1921-2002), an Indian freedom fighter and politician who played a significant role in the struggle for India's independence. Another prominent individual was Param Vir Chakra (1919-1947), an Indian military officer who received India's highest military honor for his bravery during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.
In the realm of spirituality, Param Hans Dayal (1909-1971) was a renowned Indian spiritual teacher and mystic who founded the Radha Soami Satsang Beas movement. Param Pujya Sant Hirdaram Sahib (1889-1918) was another influential spiritual leader and reformer from the Sindhi community in India.
Moving to more recent times, Param Cumaraswamy (1930-2018) was a renowned Indian-American economist and philosopher who made significant contributions to the fields of development economics and environmental ethics.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Param throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human experiences and achievements.
People
Param + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Param as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Param: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Param?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 444 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Param 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 771,969 US residents.
Is Param a common name?
We classify Param as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 448 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Param most popular?
The single biggest year for Param was 2017, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Param is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Param in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 567 people with the name Param, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,871 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 Param 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 Param?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Param leans strongly male. 518 people counted with this name were male (91.2%), compared with 50 female bearers (8.8%). 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 Param?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Param is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (1.8%). 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 Param most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Param in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (524 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 Param in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Param a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Param 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 Param still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Param 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 Param 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 Americans are named Param?
See how many Americans are named Param on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.