Rakhi
A feminine name of Hindu origin symbolizing the sacred bond between siblings.
Name Census estimates that about 71 living Americans carry the first name Rakhi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Rakhi today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rakhi births was 1979 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rakhi. 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 Rakhi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rakhi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
71
~ 1 in 4,827,526 Americans
Peak year
1979
11 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,922
Tracked since 1975
Census
Rakhi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 678 people with the first name Rakhi, which placed it at #16,581 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
#16,581
National first-name rank
People counted
678
678 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rakhi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rakhi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and White (2.2%). 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 Rakhi 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 Rakhi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.2% · 618
- Black or African American4.0% · 27
- White2.2% · 15
- Two or more races1.3% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Rakhi
Rakhi is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 75 total registrations, 21 (28.0%) were male and 54 (72.0%) were female.
Rakhi as a male name
- Ranked #11,922 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (6 births)
Rakhi as a female name
- Ranked #15,987 in 2015
- 6 female births in 2015
- Peak: 1979 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rakhi leans strongly female. 649 people counted with this name were female (94.9%), compared with 35 male bearers (5.1%).
Popularity
Rakhi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rakhi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 27 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Rakhi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rakhi 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 Rakhi 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 Rakhi
The name Rakhi finds its origins in the Sanskrit language and Hindu culture. Derived from the Sanskrit word 'raksha', meaning 'protection', it is believed to have been in use since ancient times in the Indian subcontinent.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Rakhi can be found in Hindu mythology, where it is mentioned as the name of a celestial nymph or apsara. In the epic Mahabharata, Rakhi is described as a beautiful dancer who entertained the gods.
During the medieval period, the name gained popularity as a reference to the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan, which celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. On this occasion, sisters tie a sacred thread or 'rakhi' on their brothers' wrists as a symbol of love and protection.
One of the earliest historical figures known to have borne the name Rakhi was Rakhi Bai (1623-1675), a skilled courtesan and poet in the court of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Her collection of poems, known as 'Diwan-e-Rakhi', is still preserved and studied by scholars.
Another notable figure was Rakhi Devi (1805-1882), a prominent freedom fighter from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. She played a crucial role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, leading a group of women warriors against the British East India Company.
In more recent times, Rakhi Garhi (1939-2022) was a renowned Indian classical singer and Padma Shri awardee, known for her contributions to the Khyal style of Hindustani classical music.
Rakhi Sawant (born 1978) is a contemporary Indian dancer, actress, and reality TV personality, known for her outspoken and controversial persona in the Indian entertainment industry.
Rakhi Vijan (born 1975) is an Indian actress and model who has appeared in several Bollywood films and television shows, most notably in the popular series 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'.
People
Rakhi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rakhi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rakhi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rakhi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 71 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rakhi 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 4,827,526 US residents.
Is Rakhi a common name?
We classify Rakhi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 75 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rakhi most popular?
The single biggest year for Rakhi was 1979, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rakhi is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rakhi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 678 people with the name Rakhi, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,581 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 Rakhi 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 Rakhi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rakhi leans strongly female. 649 people counted with this name were female (94.9%), compared with 35 male bearers (5.1%). 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 Rakhi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rakhi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and White (2.2%). 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 Rakhi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Rakhi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.2% (618 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 Rakhi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rakhi a female name?
Yes, 72.0% of people registered as Rakhi 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 Rakhi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rakhi 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 Rakhi 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 Rakhi?
See how many people have the name Rakhi on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.