Ranjan
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "to delight" or "pleasing".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Ranjan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ranjan today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ranjan births was 1971 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ranjan. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ranjan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1971
6 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1971 SSA rank
#4,792
Tracked since 1971
Census
Ranjan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,176 people with the first name Ranjan, which placed it at #11,058 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
#11,058
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,176 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ranjan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranjan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Ranjan 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 Ranjan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.4% · 1,122
- White1.9% · 22
- Two or more races1.4% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 7
- Black or African American0.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Popularity
Ranjan: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ranjan 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 Ranjan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ranjan
The name Ranjan has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "ranjan," which means "to please" or "to delight." This name has been used in various parts of South Asia for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ranjan can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Ranjan is mentioned as the name of a character who was a skilled archer and warrior. This suggests that the name has been in use since at least the 4th century BCE, when the Mahabharata is believed to have been composed.
In the medieval period, the name Ranjan was associated with several notable figures in Indian history. One of the most famous was Ranjan Ramdas, a 16th-century Hindu saint and poet from Maharashtra. He was known for his devotional poetry and his teachings on spiritual enlightenment.
Another significant figure with the name Ranjan was Ranjan Dutta, a Bengali writer and social reformer from the 19th century. He was a pioneer in the field of education and played a crucial role in promoting women's education in Bengal.
In the 20th century, the name Ranjan gained wider popularity across South Asia. One prominent individual with this name was Ranjan Mukherjee, an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter who was active in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for his critically acclaimed films like "Biraj Bahu" and "Sagarika."
Ranjan Bhattacharya was another notable figure from the 20th century. He was an Indian economist and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. His contributions to the field of economics and higher education in India were widely recognized.
Ranjan Ramanayake is a contemporary Sri Lankan politician and former actor. He has served as a Member of Parliament and has been actively involved in various social and political movements in Sri Lanka.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Ranjan. The name's origins in Sanskrit and its association with concepts of pleasure and delight have likely contributed to its enduring popularity across South Asia.
People
Ranjan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ranjan 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
Ranjan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ranjan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ranjan 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Ranjan a common name?
We classify Ranjan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ranjan most popular?
The single biggest year for Ranjan was 1971, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ranjan is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ranjan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,176 people with the name Ranjan, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,058 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 Ranjan 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 Ranjan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ranjan on both sides of the split. Of the 1,179 people counted with this name, 634 were male (53.8%) and 545 were female (46.2%). 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 Ranjan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranjan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Ranjan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ranjan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.4% (1,122 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 Ranjan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ranjan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ranjan 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 Ranjan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ranjan 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 Ranjan 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 Ranjan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.