Raman
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "pleasing", "delightful", or "charming".
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Raman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Raman today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raman births was 1973 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raman. 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 Raman with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
1973
15 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,724
Tracked since 1958
Census
Raman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,787 people with the first name Raman, which placed it at #8,177 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
#8,177
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,787 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
72.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 72.7%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Raman 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 Raman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander72.7% · 1,300
- White17.5% · 313
- Black or African American3.7% · 66
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 51
- Two or more races2.8% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 7
Popularity
Raman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raman from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 89 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raman 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 Raman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ramans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Raman
The name Raman has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "rāma," which means "pleasing," "delightful," or "charming."
In Hindu mythology, Raman is one of the names of the divine hero Rama, who is the central figure of the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. The Ramayana is considered one of the two great Hindu epics, alongside the Mahabharata, and is widely revered across South and Southeast Asia. Rama is revered as the seventh avatar or incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.
The name Raman has a long and revered history in Indian culture and religion. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Ramayana itself, where Rama is described as the epitome of virtue, righteousness, and heroism.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who have borne the name Raman. One of the most famous is Sir C.V. Raman (1888-1970), an Indian physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his groundbreaking work on the scattering of light, now known as the Raman effect.
Another notable figure is Raman Maharshi (1879-1950), a revered Indian sage and philosopher who is widely regarded as one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the 20th century. His teachings on self-inquiry and the nature of consciousness have influenced countless individuals around the world.
In the field of music, Raman Namboodiri (1892-1976) was a renowned Indian classical musician and composer who made significant contributions to the Carnatic music tradition. He is particularly remembered for his compositions in the Kritis and Varnams styles.
Raman Raghav (1923-1968) was an infamous Indian serial killer who operated in the city of Mumbai (then known as Bombay) during the 1960s. His crimes and subsequent trial garnered widespread attention and have been the subject of several books and films.
Finally, Raman Subba Row (1856-1890) was a prominent Indian philosopher and theosophist who played a significant role in introducing Hindu philosophy and mysticism to the Western world. He was a member of the Theosophical Society and collaborated closely with its founders, Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott.
People
Raman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raman 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
Raman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raman 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Raman a common name?
We classify Raman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 332 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raman most popular?
The single biggest year for Raman was 1973, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raman 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 Raman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,787 people with the name Raman, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,177 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 Raman 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 Raman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raman leans strongly male. 1,524 people counted with this name were male (85.3%), compared with 262 female bearers (14.7%). 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 Raman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 72.7%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Raman most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Raman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (1,300 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 Raman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Raman 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 Raman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raman 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 Raman 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 are named Raman?
Find out how many people share the name Raman on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.