Samhita
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "collection" or "compilation".
Name Census estimates that about 396 living Americans carry the first name Samhita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Samhita today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samhita births was 2011 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samhita. 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
396
~ 1 in 865,541 Americans
Peak year
2011
33 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,172
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Samhita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samhita 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 191 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
Samhita 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 Samhita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samhitas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Samhita
The name Samhita has its origins in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India dating back several millennia. It is derived from the word 'samhita,' which means 'collection' or 'compilation.' This name is closely associated with Hindu sacred texts known as the Vedas.
The Vedas are the oldest scriptures in Hinduism, composed between 1500-500 BCE. The term 'Samhita' refers to the metrical hymns and mantras that form part of these ancient texts. The Rig Veda Samhita, for instance, is a collection of over a thousand hymns dedicated to various deities.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Samhita can be found in the context of these Vedic texts. It is believed that the name was first given to female children born into Brahmin families, as a symbol of their connection to the sacred scriptures.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Samhita. One of the earliest was Samhita Devi, a 9th-century Hindu philosopher and scholar from Kashmir. She was known for her commentary on the Brahma Sutras, a fundamental text in Hindu philosophy.
In the 12th century, Samhita Pandita, a renowned mathematician and astronomer from Kerala, made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry. Her work, the Karana Paddhati, is considered a seminal text in Indian mathematics.
During the 16th century, Samhita Devi, a queen of the Vijayanagar Empire in South India, was known for her patronage of the arts and literature. She commissioned several temples and literary works, leaving a lasting impact on the cultural landscape of the region.
In more recent times, Samhita Arni, born in 1969, is an acclaimed Indian writer and publisher. Her works, including the children's book "The Missing Mail" and the novel "The Elephant Keeper's Daughter," have received critical acclaim and numerous awards.
Samhita Chakraborty, a contemporary Indian classical dancer and choreographer, has been instrumental in promoting and preserving the traditional Kathak dance form. She has received numerous accolades, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, for her contributions to the performing arts.
People
Samhita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samhita 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
Samhita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samhita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 396 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samhita 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 865,541 US residents.
Is Samhita a common name?
We classify Samhita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 401 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samhita most popular?
The single biggest year for Samhita was 2011, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samhita is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Samhita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samhita 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.