Ranesha
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a blend of Renee and Shana.
Name Census estimates that about 446 living Americans carry the first name Ranesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ranesha today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ranesha births was 1990 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ranesha. 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
446
~ 1 in 768,507 Americans
Peak year
1990
32 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2005 SSA rank
#14,164
Tracked since 1978
Census
Ranesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 348 people with the first name Ranesha, which placed it at #26,649 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
#26,649
National first-name rank
People counted
348
348 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ranesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranesha is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and White (2.0%). 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 Ranesha 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 Ranesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.2% · 321
- Two or more races3.2% · 11
- White2.0% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
Popularity
Ranesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ranesha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 261 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
Ranesha 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 Ranesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Raneshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Florida, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Ranesha, while Texas, California, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ranesha
The name Ranesha appears to have its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "rana," which means "battle" or "war." The suffix "esha" is likely added to create a feminine form of the name.
In ancient Hindu texts, the name Ranesha is sometimes associated with the goddess Durga, the embodiment of divine feminine power. Durga is depicted as a warrior goddess, slaying demons and protecting her devotees. The name Ranesha may have been given to girls as a way of invoking the goddess's strength and courage.
While the name has deep roots in Indian culture, there are no well-known historical figures specifically recorded with the name Ranesha. However, its connection to the concept of battle and the goddess Durga suggests it may have been used by warrior clans or families with a martial tradition.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Ranesha are likely to be found in ancient Sanskrit texts and inscriptions from the Indian subcontinent. However, due to the scarcity of reliable records from that era, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time period or location of its first use.
In more recent history, a few notable individuals have borne the name Ranesha. One such person is Ranesha Saha, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer born in 1958. She is known for her contributions to the Odissi dance form and has received several prestigious awards for her work.
Another individual named Ranesha is a fashion designer from India, Ranesha Jain, who has showcased her collections at various fashion weeks and events. However, specific details about her birth and background are not widely available.
Ranesha Vasudeva is an Indian singer and musician who has performed in various genres, including devotional music and pop. She has released several albums and has also worked in the Indian film industry as a playback singer.
While the name Ranesha is not as common as some other Indian names, it has a rich cultural heritage and connects to the ancient Sanskrit language and Hindu mythology. Its association with the warrior goddess Durga and the concepts of strength and courage make it a unique and meaningful name choice.
People
Ranesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ranesha 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
Ranesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ranesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 446 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ranesha 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 768,507 US residents.
Is Ranesha a common name?
We classify Ranesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 464 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ranesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Ranesha was 1990, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ranesha is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ranesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 348 people with the name Ranesha, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,649 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 Ranesha 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 Ranesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ranesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 356 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Ranesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranesha is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and White (2.0%). 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 Ranesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ranesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (321 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 Ranesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ranesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ranesha 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 Ranesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ranesha 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 Ranesha 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 Ranesha as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.