Risha
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "ray of light".
Name Census estimates that about 905 living Americans carry the first name Risha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Risha today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Risha births was 1979 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Risha. 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 Risha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
905
~ 1 in 378,734 Americans
Peak year
1979
56 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,326
Tracked since 1954
Census
Risha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 913 people with the first name Risha, which placed it at #13,282 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
#13,282
National first-name rank
People counted
913
913 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
54.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Risha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Risha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 54.9%. The next largest groups are White (23.1%) and Black (15.3%). 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 Risha 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 Risha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander54.9% · 501
- White23.1% · 211
- Black or African American15.3% · 140
- Two or more races3.4% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 8
Popularity
Risha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Risha from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 251 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Risha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Risha 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 Risha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Risha, while Texas, Florida, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Risha
The given name Risha has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was the classical language of the Indian subcontinent and is one of the oldest Indo-European languages. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "Rishi," which means a sage, seer, or enlightened being.
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, Rishis were revered as spiritual guides who had attained a high level of wisdom and enlightenment through their spiritual practices and teachings. They were considered to be the authors of the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, and played a crucial role in shaping the religious and philosophical traditions of the region.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Risha can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and mythological stories, where it was often used to refer to individuals who possessed exceptional spiritual qualities or had attained a high level of enlightenment.
One of the earliest and most notable figures in history to bear the name Risha was Rishi Valmiki, the renowned sage who is credited with writing the epic Sanskrit poem, the Ramayana. Valmiki is believed to have lived around the 5th century BCE and is considered one of the most influential figures in Hindu literature and mythology.
Another prominent historical figure with the name Risha was Rishi Vishvamitra, who was a celebrated sage and teacher in ancient Indian mythology. Vishvamitra was renowned for his spiritual pursuits and is said to have composed many hymns that are included in the Rigveda, one of the oldest and most sacred Hindu texts.
In the 6th century CE, there was a Buddhist scholar and monk named Risha Sukhavati, who is known for his contributions to the development of Mahayana Buddhism in China. He was responsible for translating several important Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese, making them accessible to a wider audience.
During the medieval period, Risha Chaitanya, a renowned Hindu mystic and saint, played a significant role in the Bhakti movement, which emphasized devotional worship and personal devotion to the divine. Chaitanya, who lived in the 15th-16th century CE, is revered as an incarnation of Lord Krishna and his teachings had a profound influence on the spiritual and cultural landscape of Bengal and other parts of India.
In more recent history, Risha Hiroko was a Japanese writer and poet who lived in the 20th century. Born in 1903, she gained recognition for her poetic works that explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. Her literary contributions have left a lasting impact on Japanese literature and have inspired generations of writers and poets.
People
Risha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Risha 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
Risha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Risha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 905 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Risha 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 378,734 US residents.
Is Risha a common name?
We classify Risha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 946 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Risha most popular?
The single biggest year for Risha was 1979, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Risha is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Risha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 913 people with the name Risha, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,282 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 Risha 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 Risha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Risha leans strongly female. 901 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 11 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Risha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Risha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 54.9%. The next largest groups are White (23.1%) and Black (15.3%). 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 Risha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Risha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.9% (501 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 Risha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Risha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Risha 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 Risha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Risha 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 Risha 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 share the name Risha?
Want to know how many Americans are named Risha? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.