Sapna
A feminine given name of Sanskrit origin meaning "dream" or "vision".
Name Census estimates that about 521 living Americans carry the first name Sapna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sapna today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sapna births was 1985 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sapna. 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 Sapna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
521
~ 1 in 657,878 Americans
Peak year
1985
25 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,189
Tracked since 1970
Census
Sapna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,770 people with the first name Sapna, which placed it at #8,234 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
#8,234
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,770 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sapna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sapna is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.5%) and White (1.4%). 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 Sapna 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 Sapna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.8% · 1,695
- Two or more races1.5% · 26
- White1.4% · 25
- Black or African American0.7% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
Popularity
Sapna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sapna from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 185 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sapna 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 Sapna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sapnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Sapna, while Texas, New Jersey, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sapna
The name Sapna originates from the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that was used in the Indian subcontinent. The word "sapna" in Sanskrit means "dream" or "vision." The name can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, including the Vedas and the Puranas.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Sapna can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In the epic, Sapna is mentioned as the name of a character who appears in dreams and visions.
Throughout history, the name Sapna has been associated with various figures, both real and fictional. One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name was Sapna, a Buddhist nun who lived in the 5th century CE and was known for her religious devotion and teachings.
In the realm of literature, Sapna was the name of a character in the 16th-century Punjabi folktale "Heer Ranjha," a tragic love story that has been adapted into numerous literary and artistic works over the centuries.
Another notable figure named Sapna was Sapna Gaidamak, a 17th-century Russian merchant and philanthropist who is remembered for her contributions to the development of the city of Moscow.
In more recent times, Sapna Awasthi (born 1967) is an Indian classical singer and exponent of the Khayal style of Hindustani classical music. She has performed extensively both in India and internationally.
Sapna Bhavnani (born 1977) is an Indian actress and television host who has appeared in several Bollywood films and television shows, known for her work in projects like "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" and "Bigg Boss."
The name Sapna has also been used in various literary works, films, and television shows, often symbolizing dreams, aspirations, and the pursuit of one's desires.
People
Sapna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sapna 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
Sapna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sapna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 521 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sapna 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 657,878 US residents.
Is Sapna a common name?
We classify Sapna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 551 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sapna most popular?
The single biggest year for Sapna was 1985, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sapna is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sapna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,770 people with the name Sapna, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,234 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 Sapna 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 Sapna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sapna appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,763 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 Sapna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sapna is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.5%) and White (1.4%). 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 Sapna most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sapna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.8% (1,695 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 Sapna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sapna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sapna 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 Sapna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sapna 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 Sapna 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 Sapna?
Want to know how many Americans are named Sapna? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.