Rishita
A Hindi feminine name meaning "heavenly" or "of the celestial bodies".
Name Census estimates that about 160 living Americans carry the first name Rishita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rishita today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rishita births was 2010 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rishita. 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
160
~ 1 in 2,142,215 Americans
Peak year
2010
15 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,299
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Rishita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rishita from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 83 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rishita 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 Rishita 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 Rishita
The name Rishita is of Sanskrit origin, tracing its roots back to ancient India. It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries, particularly in the Hindu community.
The name Rishita is derived from the Sanskrit word "Rishi," which means a sage or a wise person. The suffix "ta" is added to the word, making it a feminine form. Therefore, the name Rishita can be interpreted as "a wise woman" or "a female sage."
In Hindu mythology, Rishis were revered as spiritual teachers and sages who had attained a high level of wisdom and enlightenment. They were often mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, as the conveyors of divine knowledge and the custodians of sacred rituals.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Rishita can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, there is a character named Rishita, who was a princess and the daughter of King Nala and Queen Damayanti. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and devotion to her family.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rishita. One of the most famous was Rishita Devi, a 16th-century Hindu poet and saint from Bengal, India. She was renowned for her devotional poetry and her spiritual teachings, which focused on the worship of the Hindu deity Kali.
Another prominent figure with the name Rishita was Rishita Kapoor, a 20th-century Indian actress who appeared in several Bollywood films in the 1960s and 1970s. She was known for her beauty and her performances in movies such as "Asli Naqli" (1962) and "Ganga Ki Lahren" (1964).
In more recent times, Rishita Kar was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who lived from 1941 to 2022. She was a pioneer in the field of Odissi dance and was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 2012.
Additionally, Rishita Shroff is a contemporary Indian classical singer and musician who has been performing since the late 1990s. She is known for her renditions of Hindustani classical music and has received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to the art form.
Overall, the name Rishita has a rich and meaningful history, rooted in the ancient Sanskrit language and Hindu culture. It has been borne by notable individuals across various fields, including literature, performing arts, and spirituality, reflecting its essence of wisdom and enlightenment.
People
Rishita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rishita 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
Rishita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rishita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 160 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rishita 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 2,142,215 US residents.
Is Rishita a common name?
We classify Rishita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 162 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rishita most popular?
The single biggest year for Rishita was 2010, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rishita is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rishita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rishita 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.
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.