Paras
A masculine Hindu name meaning "like a diamond" or "transcendent".
Name Census estimates that about 276 living Americans carry the first name Paras. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Paras today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Paras births was 1990 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Paras. 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.
People living today
276
~ 1 in 1,241,864 Americans
Peak year
1990
15 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,930
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Paras: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Paras from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 92 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Paras 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 Paras 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 Paras
The name Paras has its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan tongue that was the root of many modern Indian languages. It likely emerged as a name during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE in the Indian subcontinent. The word "paras" in Sanskrit means "touchstone" or "supreme reality," suggesting the name may have held spiritual or philosophical significance.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Paras can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. The Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE, mentions a character named Parasara, a renowned sage and author of several Hindu texts.
In ancient Indian history, the name Paras gained prominence through figures like Paras Nath, a 23rd Tirthankara (ford-maker) of the Jain faith, who lived in the 8th century BCE. Another notable bearer of the name was Paras Ram, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, who is believed to have lived during the Vedic period.
Moving into the medieval era, the name Paras continued to be used, albeit with variations in spelling. One example is Paras Singh, a 16th-century Rajput warrior and ruler of the Sheikhawat clan in present-day Rajasthan, India.
In more modern times, the name Paras has been carried by several influential individuals, such as Paras Mani Pradhan (1899-1984), a Nepalese politician and poet who served as the Prime Minister of Nepal in the 1950s. Another notable figure is Paras Nath Verma (1912-1975), an Indian politician and freedom fighter who played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement.
Other notable individuals with the name Paras include Paras Arora (born 1984), an Indian actor known for his roles in Bollywood films, and Paras Khadka (born 1987), a Nepalese cricketer and former captain of the Nepalese national cricket team.
People
Paras + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Paras 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
Paras: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Paras?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 276 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Paras 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 1,241,864 US residents.
Is Paras a common name?
We classify Paras as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 284 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Paras most popular?
The single biggest year for Paras was 1990, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Paras is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Paras a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Paras 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.
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.