Rishab
A Hindu masculine name derived from Sanskrit meaning "chant, hymn".
Name Census estimates that about 627 living Americans carry the first name Rishab. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rishab today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rishab births was 2006 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rishab. 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 Rishab with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
627
~ 1 in 546,658 Americans
Peak year
2006
47 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,657
Tracked since 1995
Census
Rishab in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 790 people with the first name Rishab, which placed it at #14,793 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
#14,793
National first-name rank
People counted
790
790 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rishab
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rishab is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.9%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (0.8%). 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 Rishab 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 Rishab at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.9% · 742
- White3.9% · 31
- Black or African American0.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
- Two or more races0.1% · 1
Popularity
Rishab: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rishab 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 340 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rishab 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 Rishab during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rishabs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Rishab, while Texas, New Jersey, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rishab
The name Rishab has its roots in Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages of the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit word "rishabh," which means "bull" or "the best among men." This name has been in use for centuries in the Hindu tradition and has held significant cultural and religious significance.
The earliest known reference to the name Rishab can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and Puranas. In the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics, Rishab is mentioned as the name of an ancient king who was revered for his wisdom and righteousness. According to Hindu mythology, Rishab was also the name of one of the twenty-four incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the preserver deity in the Hindu trinity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rishab. One of the earliest examples is Rishab Deva, an ancient Jain Tirthankara (ford-maker or spiritual leader) who is believed to have lived around the 7th century BCE. He is revered as the first Tirthankara of the present cosmic age in Jainism and is credited with establishing the Jain tradition.
Another prominent figure with this name is Rishab Chandra Mallick (1890-1969), an Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter who actively participated in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. He was a close associate of Subhas Chandra Bose and played a significant role in the formation of the Indian National Army.
In more recent times, Rishab Pant (born 1997) is an Indian cricketer who represents the Indian national team. He has gained recognition for his impressive performances as a wicket-keeper and batsman, and is considered one of the rising stars in Indian cricket.
Rishab Shetty (born 1983) is a prominent Indian actor, director, and playwright from the Kannada film industry. He gained widespread acclaim for his critically acclaimed films like "Siri Sambhalama" and "Kantara," which explored themes of folklore and indigenous cultures.
Rishab Ghosh (born 1996) is an Indian classical musician and tabla player. He has performed at various prestigious music festivals and has received numerous awards and accolades for his exceptional talent in preserving and promoting the rich tradition of Indian classical music.
People
Rishab + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rishab 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
Rishab: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rishab?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 627 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rishab 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 546,658 US residents.
Is Rishab a common name?
We classify Rishab as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 634 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rishab most popular?
The single biggest year for Rishab was 2006, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rishab is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rishab in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 790 people with the name Rishab, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,793 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 Rishab 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 Rishab?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rishab appears almost entirely male. Of the 791 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Rishab?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rishab is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.9%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (0.8%). 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 Rishab most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Rishab in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (742 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 Rishab in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rishab a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rishab 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 Rishab still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rishab 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 Rishab 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 Rishab?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Rishab, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.