Sadhana
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "spiritual practice" or "effort toward an ideal".
Name Census estimates that about 215 living Americans carry the first name Sadhana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sadhana today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sadhana births was 2013 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sadhana. 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 Sadhana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
215
~ 1 in 1,594,206 Americans
Peak year
2013
19 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,849
Tracked since 1999
Census
Sadhana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 928 people with the first name Sadhana, which placed it at #13,125 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
#13,125
National first-name rank
People counted
928
928 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sadhana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sadhana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Sadhana 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 Sadhana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.3% · 875
- White2.6% · 24
- Two or more races1.6% · 15
- Black or African American1.1% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 4
Popularity
Sadhana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sadhana 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 97 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
Sadhana 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 Sadhana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sadhanas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sadhana
The name Sadhana is derived from the Sanskrit language, originating in ancient India. It is a feminine name that has its roots in the Sanskrit word "sadhana," which means "spiritual practice" or "means of accomplishing something." The name is deeply connected to the religious and philosophical traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism.
In the Hindu scriptures, particularly the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, the concept of "sadhana" is extensively discussed as a path to self-realization and spiritual enlightenment. It refers to the disciplined and dedicated pursuit of spiritual goals through various practices such as meditation, yoga, and devotional worship.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sadhana can be traced back to ancient Sanskrit texts and historical records from the Indian subcontinent. One notable example is the famous Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher, Sadhana Devi, who lived in the 19th century and played a significant role in reviving the Indian spiritual tradition of Advaita Vedanta.
Throughout history, several influential figures have borne the name Sadhana. One of the most renowned is Sadhana Shivdasani, an Indian actress who graced the silver screen from the late 1950s to the 1990s. She was born in 1941 and is widely regarded as one of the most celebrated actresses of her time in Indian cinema.
Another notable figure is Sadhana Ravishankar, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who was born in 1939. She is credited with popularizing and promoting the Bharatanatyam dance form globally and received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to the arts.
Sadhana Srivastava, born in 1941, is a prominent Indian author and scholar who has written extensively on topics related to Indian culture, philosophy, and spirituality. Her works have been translated into several languages and have garnered critical acclaim.
In the field of science, Sadhana Bose, born in 1948, is a distinguished Indian physicist known for her research in condensed matter theory and statistical physics. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Padma Shri award from the Indian government.
Sadhana Nitro, born in 1963, is a renowned Indian mountaineer and environmentalist. She has successfully summited several challenging peaks, including Mount Everest, and has been actively involved in promoting environmental conservation efforts in the Himalayan region.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Sadhana throughout history, each making significant contributions in their respective fields and embodying the spirit of dedication and spiritual pursuit associated with the name's meaning.
People
Sadhana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sadhana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sadhana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sadhana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 215 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sadhana 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 1,594,206 US residents.
Is Sadhana a common name?
We classify Sadhana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 217 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sadhana most popular?
The single biggest year for Sadhana was 2013, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sadhana is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sadhana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 928 people with the name Sadhana, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,125 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 Sadhana 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 Sadhana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sadhana appears almost entirely female. Of the 923 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Sadhana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sadhana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Sadhana most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sadhana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (875 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 Sadhana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sadhana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sadhana 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 Sadhana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sadhana 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 Sadhana 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 called Sadhana?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.