Pavan
Air, breeze, or wind in several Indian languages.
Name Census estimates that about 544 living Americans carry the first name Pavan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Pavan today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pavan births was 2002 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pavan. 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
544
~ 1 in 630,063 Americans
Peak year
2002
32 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,613
Tracked since 1970
Popularity
Pavan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pavan 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 202 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
Pavan 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 Pavan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pavans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Pavan, while New York, New Jersey, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pavan
The name Pavan has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word 'pavana,' which means 'wind' or 'air.' The name is believed to have been in use since ancient times, as early as the 5th century BCE.
Pavan is a popular name in Hinduism, where it is associated with the god of wind, Vayu. In Hindu mythology, Vayu is one of the principal deities and is considered the bearer of life-giving forces. The name Pavan is mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, including the Vedas and the Puranas.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Pavan was a renowned Sanskrit grammarian and philosopher who lived in the 7th century CE. Known as Pavan Bhattacharya, he made significant contributions to the study of Sanskrit grammar and is credited with writing several influential works.
In the 12th century, there was a prominent Hindu philosopher and poet named Pavan Nath, who hailed from the region of present-day Bihar in India. He was a highly respected figure in his time and is known for his poetic works that explored spiritual and philosophical themes.
During the Mughal era in India, which spanned from the 16th to the 19th centuries, there was a notable figure named Pavan Khan. He was a skilled military commander and served under several Mughal emperors, including Akbar and Jahangir.
In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the name Pavan was Pavan Kalyan, an Indian actor, filmmaker, and politician who was born in 1971. He is widely regarded as one of the biggest stars in the Telugu film industry and has also ventured into politics, founding the Janasena Party in 2014.
Another notable individual with the name Pavan is Pavan Sukhdev, an Indian environmental economist and UN goodwill ambassador who was born in 1959. He is known for his work in promoting sustainable development and has authored several influential reports on environmental economics.
People
Pavan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pavan 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
Pavan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pavan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 544 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pavan 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 630,063 US residents.
Is Pavan a common name?
We classify Pavan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 557 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pavan most popular?
The single biggest year for Pavan was 2002, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pavan is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pavan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pavan 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.