Sandhya
An Indian feminine given name meaning twilight or dusk.
Name Census estimates that about 483 living Americans carry the first name Sandhya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sandhya today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sandhya births was 2004 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sandhya. 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 Sandhya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
483
~ 1 in 709,636 Americans
Peak year
2004
24 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,706
Tracked since 1966
Census
Sandhya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,536 people with the first name Sandhya, which placed it at #5,009 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
#5,009
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,536 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sandhya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sandhya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and White (1.3%). 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 Sandhya 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 Sandhya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.6% · 3,382
- Two or more races1.9% · 66
- White1.3% · 47
- Black or African American0.7% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 7
Popularity
Sandhya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sandhya from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 148 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sandhya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sandhya 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 Sandhya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sandhyas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sandhya
Sandhya is a Hindu name derived from the Sanskrit word "sandhya," which means "twilight" or "the period of joining day and night." The name is closely associated with Hinduism and has its roots in ancient Indian culture and tradition.
The name Sandhya has been in use for centuries and can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts. In the Vedas, one of the oldest texts of Hinduism, the word "sandhya" is mentioned as a sacred time for performing religious rituals and prayers. The concept of sandhya is deeply ingrained in Hindu philosophy, representing the transition between day and night, light and darkness.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sandhya can be found in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a character. The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text that dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Sandhya. One such figure is Sandhya Mukhopadhyay (1913-1987), an Indian writer and educator who played a significant role in the Bengali literary movement. She was a recipient of the prestigious Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honor.
Another prominent figure with the name Sandhya is Sandhya Mridul (born 1971), an Indian actress known for her work in Bollywood and television. She has appeared in numerous films and TV shows and has received critical acclaim for her performances.
In the field of classical Indian dance, Sandhya Purecha (born 1957) is a renowned Kathak dancer and choreographer. She has been honored with various awards, including the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, for her contributions to the art form.
Sandhya Raga (born 1980) is a renowned Indian classical musician and singer. She is known for her expertise in Carnatic music and has performed at numerous prestigious venues around the world.
Sandhya Raghavan (born 1975) is an Indian author and journalist who has written several books and articles on various topics, including parenting, gender, and culture. Her works have gained critical acclaim and have been widely read and appreciated.
The name Sandhya has a rich cultural heritage and is deeply rooted in Hindu tradition and mythology. Its association with the concept of twilight and the transition between day and night has made it a significant and meaningful name in Indian culture.
People
Sandhya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sandhya 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
Sandhya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sandhya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 483 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sandhya 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 709,636 US residents.
Is Sandhya a common name?
We classify Sandhya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 504 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sandhya most popular?
The single biggest year for Sandhya was 2004, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sandhya is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sandhya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,536 people with the name Sandhya, or 1.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,009 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 Sandhya 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 Sandhya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sandhya appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,538 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 Sandhya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sandhya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and White (1.3%). 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 Sandhya most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sandhya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.6% (3,382 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 Sandhya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sandhya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sandhya 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 Sandhya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sandhya 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 Sandhya 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 share the name Sandhya?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.