Pooja
An Indian feminine name meaning "worship" or "prayer".
Name Census estimates that about 1,916 living Americans carry the first name Pooja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pooja today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pooja births was 1997 (117 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pooja. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 178,891 Americans
Peak year
1997
117 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,550
Tracked since 1976
Popularity
Pooja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pooja from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 957 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
Pooja 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 Pooja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Poojas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New Jersey, California, New York recorded the most babies named Pooja, while North Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 87 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pooja
The name Pooja is derived from the Sanskrit word "Puja," which means "reverence," "honor," or "worship." It is a name deeply rooted in the Hindu tradition and culture, originating in ancient India.
Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language, has been the primary language of Hindu scriptures and religious texts for centuries. The word "Puja" is found in many ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, referring to the act of worship and offering prayers to deities.
The earliest recorded use of the name Pooja is believed to be around the 7th century CE. It gained popularity as a given name for girls in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the regions where Hinduism was widely practiced.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Pooja was Pooja Bhatt, an Indian actress, and filmmaker born in 1972. She is known for her work in critically acclaimed films such as "Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin" and "Zakhm."
Another prominent individual with the name Pooja is Pooja Misrra, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer born in 1971. She is renowned for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of Indian classical dance forms, particularly Kathak.
Pooja Gandhi, born in 1980, is an Indian model and actress who has appeared in various Bollywood films and television shows. She is also known for her philanthropic work and advocacy for animal rights.
In the field of sports, Pooja Sahasrabudhe, born in 1984, is an Indian cricketer who has represented the Indian national women's cricket team. She is regarded as one of the most successful female cricketers in the country.
Pooja Vaidya, born in 1987, is an Indian classical vocalist renowned for her expertise in the Hindustani classical music tradition. She has performed in numerous concerts and music festivals across India and abroad.
While the name Pooja has its roots in Hindu culture and tradition, it has transcended religious boundaries and is now widely used across various communities and regions in India and other parts of the world.
People
Pooja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pooja 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
Pooja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pooja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,916 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pooja 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 178,891 US residents.
Is Pooja a common name?
We classify Pooja as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,981 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pooja most popular?
The single biggest year for Pooja was 1997, when 117 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pooja is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pooja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pooja in the SSA data are female. 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.