Preet
A name of Sanskrit origin meaning love, affection, or desire.
Name Census estimates that about 233 living Americans carry the first name Preet. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 62.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Preet today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Preet births was 2008 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Preet. 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 Preet with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
233
~ 1 in 1,471,049 Americans
Peak year
2008
21 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,504
Tracked since 1992
Census
Preet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 740 people with the first name Preet, which placed it at #15,509 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
#15,509
National first-name rank
People counted
740
740 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Preet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Preet is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Preet 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 Preet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.8% · 687
- White3.5% · 26
- Two or more races1.4% · 10
- Black or African American1.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Preet
Preet is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 236 total registrations, 148 (62.7%) were male and 88 (37.3%) were female.
Preet as a male name
- Ranked #10,504 in 2017
- 7 male births in 2017
- Peak: 2000 (13 births)
Preet as a female name
- Ranked #15,484 in 2017
- 6 female births in 2017
- Peak: 2011 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Preet on both sides of the split. Of the 747 people counted with this name, 422 were male (56.5%) and 325 were female (43.5%).
Popularity
Preet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Preet from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 103 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Preet 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 Preet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Preets live
Origin
Meaning and history of Preet
The name Preet has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was the classical language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "priya," meaning "beloved" or "dear." The name can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, where it was often used as a term of endearment.
In the Vedas, which are the oldest Hindu scriptures, the name Preet is mentioned in various hymns and mantras. One of the earliest recorded references to the name can be found in the Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism, composed around 1500-1200 BCE.
Throughout the centuries, the name Preet has been borne by several notable figures in Indian history. One of the most famous was Preet Singh (1690-1734), a prominent military leader and warrior in the Sikh Empire during the early 18th century. He played a crucial role in the expansion of the Sikh Empire under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Another historical figure with the name Preet was Preet Narain (1715-1775), a renowned poet and writer from the Mughal era. He was known for his contributions to Hindi literature and his works, which often celebrated love and devotion.
In more recent times, Preet Bharara (born 1968) is a former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, known for his high-profile cases against Wall Street executives and corruption.
Preet Kaur Gill (born 1972) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston since 2017. She is the first female Sikh MP in the UK Parliament.
Preet Kamal Kaur (born 1958) is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, known for her contributions to the Bharatanatyam dance form. She has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Padma Shri award from the Government of India.
The name Preet continues to be popular among people of Indian descent, particularly in the Sikh and Hindu communities, as it represents a sense of love, affection, and endearment.
People
Preet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Preet 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
Preet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Preet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 233 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Preet 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 1,471,049 US residents.
Is Preet a common name?
We classify Preet as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 236 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Preet most popular?
The single biggest year for Preet was 2008, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Preet is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Preet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 740 people with the name Preet, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,509 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 Preet 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 Preet?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Preet on both sides of the split. Of the 747 people counted with this name, 422 were male (56.5%) and 325 were female (43.5%). 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 Preet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Preet is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Preet most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Preet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (687 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 Preet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Preet a male name?
Yes, 62.7% of people registered as Preet 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 Preet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Preet 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 Preet 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 Preet?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.