Prasad
A masculine given name from Sanskrit meaning "God's gracious gift" or "blessing".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Prasad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Prasad today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Prasad births was 1982 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Prasad. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Prasad. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1982
5 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1982 SSA rank
#7,103
Tracked since 1982
Census
Prasad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,114 people with the first name Prasad, which placed it at #7,270 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
#7,270
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,114 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Prasad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Prasad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Prasad 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 Prasad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.4% · 2,059
- White1.3% · 28
- Two or more races0.8% · 16
- Black or African American0.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.0% · 1
Popularity
Prasad: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Prasad 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 Prasad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Prasad
The name Prasad has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE and was the root of many modern languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent. Prasad is derived from the Sanskrit word "prasada," which means grace, blessing, or favor. It is a name that carries spiritual significance and is closely associated with Hindu beliefs and traditions.
The earliest known records of the name Prasad can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Vedas and Puranas. In these sacred texts, the term "prasada" is often used to refer to the sanctified food offerings made to deities during religious ceremonies and rituals. The act of receiving and consuming these offerings was believed to bestow divine grace and blessings upon the devotees.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Prasad was Prasad Mishra, a Sanskrit scholar and philosopher who lived in the 8th century CE. He is credited with writing several influential works on Hindu philosophy and is revered for his contributions to the Advaita Vedanta school of thought.
Throughout history, there have been many notable individuals who bore the name Prasad. One such figure was Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886), a revered Hindu mystic and spiritual teacher. His chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), played a pivotal role in introducing Hinduism to the Western world and is regarded as a key figure in the revival of Hindu spirituality in modern times.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963), a prominent Indian freedom fighter and statesman who served as the first President of independent India from 1950 to 1962. His dedication to the principles of democracy and his unwavering commitment to the nation's progress earned him widespread respect and admiration.
In the field of literature, Amrita Pritam (1919-2005), a celebrated Punjabi writer and poet, was born with the name Amrita Prasad. Her works, which explored themes of love, feminism, and social injustice, have left an indelible mark on Punjabi literature and continue to inspire generations of writers and readers.
One cannot discuss the name Prasad without mentioning the renowned Indian classical vocalist, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011). Born as Bhimsen Gururaj Prasad, he was a cultural icon and a recipient of numerous honors, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, for his immense contributions to Hindustani classical music.
People
Prasad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Prasad 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
Prasad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Prasad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Prasad 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Prasad a common name?
We classify Prasad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Prasad most popular?
The single biggest year for Prasad was 1982, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Prasad is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Prasad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,114 people with the name Prasad, or 0.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,270 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 Prasad 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 Prasad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Prasad appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,116 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Prasad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Prasad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Prasad most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Prasad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.4% (2,059 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 Prasad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Prasad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Prasad 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 Prasad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Prasad 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 Prasad 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 people are called Prasad?
You can see how many people share the name Prasad on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.