Saumya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning gentle, calm, and peaceful.
Name Census estimates that about 246 living Americans carry the first name Saumya. It is a predominantly female name (98.0% of registrations). The average person named Saumya today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saumya births was 2005 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saumya. 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
246
~ 1 in 1,393,310 Americans
Peak year
2005
24 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2005 SSA rank
#12,258
Tracked since 1997
Gender
Gender distribution for Saumya
Saumya leans heavily female at 98.0% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Saumya as a male name
- Ranked #13,015 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 2005 (5 births)
Saumya as a female name
- Ranked #12,258 in 2019
- 8 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2002 (19 births)
Popularity
Saumya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saumya from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 149 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Saumya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saumya 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 Saumya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saumyas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saumya
The name Saumya has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that emerged in the Indian subcontinent around the 2nd millennium BCE. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "saumya," which means gentle, mild, or pleasing.
In ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and Puranas, the name Saumya is often associated with the moon deity, Soma or Chandra. It is believed that the name was given to individuals with a calm and serene demeanor, reflecting the gentle and soothing nature of the moon.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Saumya can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic composed between the 8th and 9th centuries BCE. In this epic, Saumya is mentioned as one of the descendants of the Kuru dynasty, which ruled over a significant portion of the Indian subcontinent during that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Saumya. One of the most famous was Saumya Rishi, a renowned Hindu sage and philosopher who lived during the Vedic period (c. 1500–500 BCE). He is credited with composing several hymns in the Rigveda, one of the oldest and most revered Hindu scriptures.
Another notable figure was Saumya Bhargava, a Sanskrit grammarian and linguist who lived in the 7th century CE. He was the author of the "Saumya Vyakarana," a treatise on Sanskrit grammar that was widely studied and respected in ancient India.
In the realm of literature, Saumya Mishra was a celebrated Sanskrit poet who lived during the 11th century CE. His poetic works, particularly the "Saumya Sataka," a collection of lyrical verses, have been widely acclaimed for their literary merit and have been studied by scholars and literary enthusiasts throughout the ages.
Moving forward in time, Saumya Swaminathan was a distinguished Indian lawyer and jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court from 1967 to 1970. She was also the first woman to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India in 1989.
Finally, Saumya Saxena was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer who made significant contributions to the revival and promotion of the Kathak dance form in the 20th century. She was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 2012 for her contributions to the field of dance.
People
Saumya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saumya 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
Saumya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saumya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 246 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saumya 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 1,393,310 US residents.
Is Saumya a common name?
We classify Saumya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 249 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saumya most popular?
The single biggest year for Saumya was 2005, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saumya is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Saumya a female name?
Yes, 98.0% of people registered as Saumya 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.