Rasa
An Indian feminine name meaning juice, nectar, or essence.
Name Census estimates that about 82 living Americans carry the first name Rasa. It is a predominantly female name (95.1% of registrations). The average person named Rasa today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rasa births was 1956 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rasa. 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 Rasa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rasa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
82
~ 1 in 4,179,931 Americans
Peak year
1956
10 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,680
Tracked since 1952
Census
Rasa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 704 people with the first name Rasa, which placed it at #16,121 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
#16,121
National first-name rank
People counted
704
704 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rasa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasa is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%). 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 Rasa 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 Rasa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 573
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 73
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 25
- Black or African American2.6% · 18
- Two or more races2.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Rasa
Rasa leans heavily female at 95.1% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rasa as a male name
- Ranked #13,680 in 2019
- 5 male births in 2019
- Peak: 2019 (5 births)
Rasa as a female name
- Ranked #15,999 in 2015
- 6 female births in 2015
- Peak: 1956 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rasa leans strongly female. 644 people counted with this name were female (91.6%), compared with 59 male bearers (8.4%).
Popularity
Rasa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rasa from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 49 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rasa 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 Rasa 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 Rasa
The name Rasa is of Sanskrit origin and has its roots in ancient Indian culture. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "rasa," which means "essence," "juice," or "flavor." The name is believed to have been in use since the Vedic period, which dates back to around 1500-500 BCE.
In Hindu mythology, the concept of "rasa" is closely tied to the theory of aesthetic enjoyment and the experience of emotions through various art forms, such as poetry, dance, and drama. The Natyashastra, an ancient Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, discusses the concept of "rasa" in great detail.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Rasa can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. In this epic, Rasa is mentioned as the name of a river goddess.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Rasa. One of the earliest was Rasa Khan (1474-1528), a Mughal nobleman and military commander who served under the Mughal emperor Babur.
Another prominent figure was Rasa Vinra (1590-1670), a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet from India who authored several works on grammar, poetry, and philosophy.
In the 18th century, Rasa Sundari Devi (1720-1795) was a celebrated Indian poet and composer from the Rajput community. She is known for her contributions to the Braj Bhasha literature and her devotional compositions.
In the field of dance, Rasa Govinda (1920-2004) was a renowned Indian dancer and choreographer who played a significant role in reviving and popularizing the Odissi classical dance form.
More recently, Rasa Vitalia (born 1964) is a prominent Indonesian writer and journalist who has authored several books and received numerous literary awards for her work.
While the name Rasa has its origins in ancient India, it has also been used in various other cultures and regions, particularly in Southeast Asia, where it has taken on different meanings and interpretations.
People
Rasa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rasa 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
Rasa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rasa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 82 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rasa 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 4,179,931 US residents.
Is Rasa a common name?
We classify Rasa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 102 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rasa most popular?
The single biggest year for Rasa was 1956, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rasa is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rasa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 704 people with the name Rasa, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,121 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 Rasa 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 Rasa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rasa leans strongly female. 644 people counted with this name were female (91.6%), compared with 59 male bearers (8.4%). 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 Rasa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasa is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%). 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 Rasa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rasa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (573 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 Rasa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rasa a female name?
Yes, 95.1% of people registered as Rasa 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 Rasa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rasa 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 Rasa 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 the name Rasa?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Rasa, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.