Pratyush
Of Sanskrit origin, meaning the dawn or morning sun.
Name Census estimates that about 179 living Americans carry the first name Pratyush. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Pratyush today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pratyush births was 2007 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pratyush. 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 Pratyush with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
179
~ 1 in 1,914,829 Americans
Peak year
2007
17 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,698
Tracked since 2001
Census
Pratyush in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 424 people with the first name Pratyush, which placed it at #23,170 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
#23,170
National first-name rank
People counted
424
424 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pratyush
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pratyush is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) 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 Pratyush 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 Pratyush at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.7% · 410
- White1.9% · 8
- Two or more races0.7% · 3
- Black or African American0.5% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Pratyush: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pratyush from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 82 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Pratyush remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pratyush 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 Pratyush 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 Pratyush
The name Pratyush originates from the Sanskrit language, which has its roots in ancient India. It is believed to have emerged during the Vedic period, which spans from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. The word "Pratyush" is derived from the Sanskrit word "pratyusha," which means "dawn" or "early morning."
In the ancient Hindu scriptures, particularly the Vedas and Puranas, there are references to the concept of "pratyusha" as a personification of the dawn or the first rays of the sun. This symbolism is associated with the name Pratyush, evoking a sense of newness, freshness, and the beginning of a new day.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pratyush can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic poem. In the epic, there is a character named Pratyush, who was a prince and a skilled archer. However, details about this character are scarce, and it is uncertain whether the name was in common use at that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Pratyush. One of the most prominent figures was Pratyush Sinha, an Indian revolutionary who participated in the Indian independence movement against British rule in the early 20th century. He was born in 1891 and was actively involved in the Quit India Movement.
Another noteworthy individual was Pratyush Chandra, an Indian physicist and academic who made significant contributions to the field of theoretical physics. He was born in 1932 and served as a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
In the realm of literature, Pratyush Ghosh was a renowned Bengali poet and writer from India. He was born in 1934 and is known for his works that explored themes of social justice, human condition, and the complexities of modern life.
Pratyush Singh was an Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket for Bihar and represented the East Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He was born in 1975 and had a successful career as a right-arm medium-pace bowler.
Lastly, Pratyush Buddiga is a contemporary Indian author and screenwriter known for his work in the Indian film industry. He was born in 1982 and has written several acclaimed novels and screenplays, including the critically acclaimed film "2 States."
People
Pratyush + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pratyush 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
Pratyush: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pratyush?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 179 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pratyush 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 1,914,829 US residents.
Is Pratyush a common name?
We classify Pratyush as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pratyush most popular?
The single biggest year for Pratyush was 2007, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pratyush is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pratyush in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 424 people with the name Pratyush, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,170 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 Pratyush 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 Pratyush?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pratyush appears almost entirely male. Of the 427 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Pratyush?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pratyush is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) 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 Pratyush most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Pratyush in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.7% (410 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 Pratyush in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pratyush a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pratyush 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 Pratyush still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pratyush 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 Pratyush 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 share the name Pratyush?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.