Ramesh
A masculine Hindu name derived from Sanskrit meaning "pleasing, captivating" or "gem".
Name Census estimates that about 174 living Americans carry the first name Ramesh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ramesh today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramesh births was 1980 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramesh. 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.
People living today
174
~ 1 in 1,969,853 Americans
Peak year
1980
13 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,625
Tracked since 1966
Popularity
Ramesh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ramesh from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 65 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
Ramesh 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 Ramesh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rameshs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ramesh
The name Ramesh is a popular Hindu name with its origins rooted in the Sanskrit language, one of the oldest languages in the world. The name Ramesh is a combination of two Sanskrit words, "Ram" and "esh," where "Ram" is a reference to the Hindu god Lord Rama, and "esh" means "lord" or "master." Together, the name Ramesh translates to "Lord Rama" or "servant of Lord Rama."
The name gained widespread recognition and popularity due to its association with the Hindu epic Ramayana, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. The Ramayana, written by the sage Valmiki, narrates the story of Lord Rama, who is revered as the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. The epic has had a profound influence on Hindu culture, literature, and traditions, and the name Ramesh has been widely used by Hindus as a way to pay homage to Lord Rama.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ramesh can be traced back to the ancient Indian scholar and philosopher Ramesh Dutt, who lived in the 18th century. He was a prominent figure in the Bengal Renaissance and contributed significantly to the fields of philosophy, literature, and education.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ramesh. One of the most famous figures is Ramesh Chandra Dutta (1889-1969), an Indian lawyer, jurist, and statesman who served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and played a crucial role in the drafting of the Indian Constitution.
Another prominent figure is Ramesh Sippy (born 1947), an acclaimed Indian film director and producer known for his critically acclaimed and commercially successful films such as "Sholay" (1975) and "Shakti" (1982).
In the field of science, Ramesh Raskar (born 1970) is a renowned computer scientist and entrepreneur who has made significant contributions to the fields of computational photography and computer vision. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the founder of several startups.
Ramesh Krishnan (born 1961) is a former Indian professional tennis player who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 8 in the world. He won several ATP Tour titles and represented India in numerous Davis Cup competitions.
Ramesh Balsekar (1917-2009) was a renowned Indian spiritual teacher and writer who popularized the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic philosophy of Hindu origin. His books and teachings have influenced countless individuals around the world.
People
Ramesh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ramesh 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
Ramesh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ramesh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 174 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramesh 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 1,969,853 US residents.
Is Ramesh a common name?
We classify Ramesh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ramesh most popular?
The single biggest year for Ramesh was 1980, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramesh is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ramesh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ramesh 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.
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.