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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Pooja with official rankings and popularity over time.
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
Census
Pooja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,706 people with the first name Pooja, which placed it at #3,210 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
#3,210
National first-name rank
People counted
6.7K
6,706 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pooja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pooja is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.1%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Pooja 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 Pooja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.0% · 6,440
- White2.1% · 140
- Two or more races0.7% · 46
- Black or African American0.6% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 18
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.
How common was Pooja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,706 people with the name Pooja, or 2.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,210 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 Pooja 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 Pooja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pooja appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,697 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Pooja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pooja is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.1%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Pooja most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Pooja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.0% (6,440 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 Pooja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
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.
Is Pooja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pooja 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 Pooja 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 Pooja?
See how many Americans are named Pooja on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.