Rishikesh
Lord of the senses, supreme being.
Name Census estimates that about 106 living Americans carry the first name Rishikesh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rishikesh today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rishikesh births was 2002 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rishikesh. 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.
People living today
106
~ 1 in 3,233,531 Americans
Peak year
2002
12 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,744
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Rishikesh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rishikesh from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 68 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
Rishikesh 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 Rishikesh 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 Rishikesh
The name Rishikesh has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have been in use since the Vedic period, which dates back to around 1500-500 BCE.
Rishikesh is a compound word derived from the Sanskrit words "rishi" meaning sage or seer, and "kesh" meaning hair or rays. The name is often interpreted to mean "Lord of the Sages" or "He whose hair is radiant."
In Hindu mythology, Rishikesh is a sacred city located in the foothills of the Himalayas, on the banks of the Ganges River. It is considered a revered place for spiritual seekers and has been mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, including the Rigveda, one of the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Rishikesh can be found in the epic Hindu scripture, the Ramayana, which is dated around the 7th century BCE. In the text, Rishikesh is described as a place where the sage Vishwamitra had his ashram (a spiritual hermitage).
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rishikesh. One of the earliest was Rishikesh Shastri (1516-1619), a prominent scholar and poet from the Vijayanagara Empire in South India. He is known for his works in Sanskrit and Kannada literature.
Another famous bearer of the name was Rishikesh Mukherjee (1890-1963), an Indian writer, journalist, and philosopher who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. He was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and wrote extensively on Gandhian principles.
Rishikesh Ranade (1842-1901), a social reformer and educator from Maharashtra, India, was instrumental in promoting education for women and the downtrodden sections of society. He is remembered for his efforts in establishing schools and educational institutions.
In more recent times, Rishikesh Dasmunsi (1944-2017) was an Indian politician and a member of the Indian National Congress party. He served as a member of the Indian Parliament and held various ministerial positions in the central government.
Rishikesh Chandra Mukherjee (1842-1915) was a prominent Indian lawyer and jurist who served as a judge in the Calcutta High Court and was later appointed as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England.
People
Rishikesh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rishikesh 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
Rishikesh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rishikesh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 106 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rishikesh 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 3,233,531 US residents.
Is Rishikesh a common name?
We classify Rishikesh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 107 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rishikesh most popular?
The single biggest year for Rishikesh was 2002, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rishikesh is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rishikesh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rishikesh 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.
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.