Priyanka
Of Sanskrit origin, meaning beloved or cherished one.
Name Census estimates that about 1,741 living Americans carry the first name Priyanka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Priyanka today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Priyanka births was 1998 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Priyanka. 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 Priyanka with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 196,872 Americans
Peak year
1998
84 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,383
Tracked since 1983
Census
Priyanka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,846 people with the first name Priyanka, which placed it at #2,907 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
#2,907
National first-name rank
People counted
7.8K
7,846 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Priyanka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Priyanka is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Priyanka 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 Priyanka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.9% · 7,445
- White1.8% · 139
- Two or more races1.7% · 136
- Black or African American0.8% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 12
Popularity
Priyanka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Priyanka from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 703 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
Priyanka 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 Priyanka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Priyankas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Priyanka, while Florida, Maryland, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 76 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Priyanka
The name Priyanka is derived from the Sanskrit language, originating in ancient India. It is a feminine name composed of the words "priya," meaning beloved or dear, and "anka," meaning a part or portion. Thus, the name Priyanka can be understood to mean "beloved one" or "dear one."
The name has its roots in Hindu mythology and culture, where it was often used to refer to goddesses or female deities. It is believed that the name first appeared in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, which date back to the 2nd millennium BCE.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Priyanka can be found in the epic poem Mahabharata, which is considered one of the longest and most influential works of Indian literature. In the Mahabharata, the name Priyanka is used to refer to the daughter of King Drupada.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Priyanka. One of the most famous is Priyanka Chopra, an Indian actress, singer, and film producer born in 1982. She is a former Miss World and has appeared in numerous Bollywood and Hollywood films, including "Baywatch" and "Isn't It Romantic."
Another well-known Priyanka is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, an Indian politician born in 1972. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the granddaughter of Indira Gandhi, and has served as a general secretary of the Indian National Congress party.
In ancient times, the name Priyanka was also associated with various Hindu goddesses and deities. One example is Priyanka Devi, a Hindu goddess associated with beauty, love, and fertility, who is often depicted as a consort of Lord Shiva.
Additionally, the name Priyanka has been mentioned in various ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Puranas and the Upanishads, further solidifying its historical and cultural significance in Indian literature and mythology.
It is worth noting that while the name Priyanka has its roots in Sanskrit and Hindu culture, it has gained popularity across different regions and cultures over time, with individuals from various backgrounds adopting the name for its beautiful meaning and rich historical connotations.
People
Priyanka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Priyanka 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
Priyanka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Priyanka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,741 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Priyanka 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 196,872 US residents.
Is Priyanka a common name?
We classify Priyanka as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,783 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Priyanka most popular?
The single biggest year for Priyanka was 1998, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Priyanka is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Priyanka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,846 people with the name Priyanka, or 2.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,907 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 Priyanka 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 Priyanka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Priyanka appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,849 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 Priyanka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Priyanka is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Priyanka most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Priyanka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.9% (7,445 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 Priyanka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Priyanka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Priyanka 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 Priyanka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Priyanka 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 Priyanka 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 have Priyanka as a first name?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Priyanka at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.