Preeti
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning beloved, pretty, beautiful.
Name Census estimates that about 343 living Americans carry the first name Preeti. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Preeti today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Preeti births was 2000 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Preeti. 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 Preeti with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
343
~ 1 in 999,284 Americans
Peak year
2000
18 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2009 SSA rank
#11,286
Tracked since 1972
Census
Preeti in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,837 people with the first name Preeti, which placed it at #5,851 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
#5,851
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,837 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Preeti
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Preeti is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Preeti 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 Preeti at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.5% · 2,766
- White1.0% · 28
- Two or more races0.6% · 16
- Black or African American0.5% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Preeti: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Preeti from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 108 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
Preeti 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 Preeti during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Preetis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Preeti
The name Preeti has its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "priti," which means love, affection, or delight. The name has been in use for centuries and is primarily associated with Hindu culture and tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Preeti can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures known as the Puranas. These religious texts, which date back to the 3rd or 4th century CE, mention a goddess named Preeti, who is often depicted as a companion to the goddess of wealth and prosperity, Lakshmi.
In the 12th century, the poet and philosopher Jayadeva wrote the famous Sanskrit poem "Gita Govinda," which contains references to a character named Preeti. This literary work is considered a masterpiece of devotional poetry and has had a significant influence on Indian art, music, and literature.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Preeti. One of the earliest recorded examples is Preeti Lata, a renowned Indian classical singer and Hindustani vocalist who lived in the 19th century (1818-1875). She was known for her exceptional talent and contribution to the preservation of classical Indian music.
Another prominent figure was Preeti Sagar (1914-1986), an Indian freedom fighter and social activist who played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement. She was actively involved in the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned several times for her participation in the struggle against British rule.
In the field of literature, Preeti Patel (1921-2002) was an acclaimed Gujarati writer and poet. She was a recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award, India's highest literary honor, for her collection of poems titled "Kavita" in 1966.
Preeti Chandra (1934-2018) was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was a skilled exponent of Kathak, one of the major classical dance forms of India, and played a significant role in popularizing and promoting this art form both nationally and internationally.
In more recent times, Preeti Shenoy (born 1971) is a popular Indian author and artist who has written several best-selling novels, including "Life is What You Make It" and "Wake Up, Life is Calling." Her works often explore themes of self-discovery, relationships, and the complexities of modern life.
People
Preeti + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Preeti 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
Preeti: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Preeti?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 343 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Preeti 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 999,284 US residents.
Is Preeti a common name?
We classify Preeti as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 360 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Preeti most popular?
The single biggest year for Preeti was 2000, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Preeti is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Preeti in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,837 people with the name Preeti, or 0.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,851 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 Preeti 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 Preeti?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Preeti appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,832 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Preeti?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Preeti is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Preeti most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Preeti in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.5% (2,766 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 Preeti in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Preeti a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Preeti 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 Preeti still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Preeti 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 Preeti 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 Preeti?
Want to know how many people have the name Preeti? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.