Raunak
A Hindi name meaning radiance, splendor, or luster.
Name Census estimates that about 190 living Americans carry the first name Raunak. It is a predominantly male name (94.3% of registrations). The average person named Raunak today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Raunak births was 2006 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Raunak. 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 Raunak with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
190
~ 1 in 1,803,970 Americans
Peak year
2006
14 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,735
Tracked since 1998
Census
Raunak in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 343 people with the first name Raunak, which placed it at #26,904 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
#26,904
National first-name rank
People counted
343
343 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Raunak
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raunak is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.1%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Raunak 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 Raunak at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.6% · 321
- White4.1% · 14
- Two or more races1.7% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Raunak
Raunak leans heavily male at 94.3% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Raunak as a male name
- Ranked #13,735 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (14 births)
Raunak as a female name
- Ranked #17,086 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raunak leans strongly male. 308 people counted with this name were male (89.8%), compared with 35 female bearers (10.2%).
Popularity
Raunak: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Raunak from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 76 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Raunak remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Raunak 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 Raunak 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 Raunak
The name Raunak has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "raunak," which means "splendor," "brilliance," or "radiance." This name was likely first used in the region of modern-day India and surrounding areas during ancient times, possibly as early as the 1st or 2nd century CE.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Raunak can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas. These sacred texts, which date back to around 1500 BCE, contain references to individuals with names similar to Raunak, suggesting that the name may have been in use even earlier than initially thought.
In the historical records of the Indian subcontinent, several notable figures have borne the name Raunak over the centuries. One such individual was Raunak Singh, a 17th-century Rajput warrior and ruler of the princely state of Bikaner in present-day Rajasthan, India. Born in 1622, Raunak Singh was known for his military prowess and contributions to the development of Bikaner.
Another historical figure with the name Raunak was Raunak Raza Khan, a renowned Urdu poet and scholar who lived in the 19th century. Born in 1786 in Lucknow, India, Raunak Raza Khan was celebrated for his works that explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
In more recent times, Raunak Sadhwani, born in 1987, is an Indian actress and model who has appeared in various Bollywood films and television shows, gaining recognition for her talent and beauty.
Raunak Srivastava, born in 1990, is an Indian cricketer who has represented the national team in various formats of the game, including Test matches and One Day Internationals. He is known for his skilled batting and fielding abilities.
Raunak Parikh, born in 1985, is an Indian entrepreneur and co-founder of a successful technology startup based in Silicon Valley. He has been recognized for his innovative approaches and contributions to the field of technology and entrepreneurship.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Raunak, a name that carries connotations of brilliance, radiance, and splendor, reflecting its Sanskrit origins.
People
Raunak + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Raunak 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
Raunak: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Raunak?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 190 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Raunak 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 1,803,970 US residents.
Is Raunak a common name?
We classify Raunak as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Raunak most popular?
The single biggest year for Raunak was 2006, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Raunak is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Raunak in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 343 people with the name Raunak, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,904 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 Raunak 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 Raunak?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Raunak leans strongly male. 308 people counted with this name were male (89.8%), compared with 35 female bearers (10.2%). 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 Raunak?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Raunak is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.1%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Raunak most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Raunak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.6% (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 Raunak in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Raunak a male name?
Yes, 94.3% of people registered as Raunak 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 Raunak still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Raunak 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 Raunak 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 Raunak?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.