Sharanya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "that which flows" or "auspicious river".
Name Census estimates that about 340 living Americans carry the first name Sharanya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharanya today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharanya births was 2015 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharanya. 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
340
~ 1 in 1,008,101 Americans
Peak year
2015
23 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,242
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Sharanya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharanya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 156 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharanya 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 Sharanya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharanyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Sharanya, while Texas, New Jersey, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharanya
The name Sharanya has its roots in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that has been a prominent cultural force in the Indian subcontinent and beyond for over 3,500 years. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "Sharanya," which means "refuge" or "shelter," often referring to divine protection or spiritual solace.
In Hindu mythology and sacred texts, Sharanya is a name associated with the goddess Lakshmi, the embodiment of wealth, prosperity, and beauty. Lakshmi is often depicted holding a lotus flower, which symbolizes spiritual purity and divine beauty, qualities that the name Sharanya evokes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharanya can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, composed around the 4th century BCE to the 4th century CE. In the epic, Sharanya is mentioned as the name of a celestial nymph or Apsara, renowned for her beauty and grace.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sharanya. One of the earliest was Sharanya Namboodiri, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in Kerala, India, during the 17th century. Her works, including the acclaimed "Narayaneeyam," a devotional poem on Lord Krishna, are considered literary masterpieces.
Another prominent individual with this name was Sharanya Rani, a 19th-century Indian princess and poet from the princely state of Tanjore (now in Tamil Nadu, India). Her poetic works, written in Tamil and Sanskrit, were highly regarded and celebrated for their literary excellence.
In more recent times, Sharanya Sampathkumar, an Indian author and poet born in 1986, has gained recognition for her acclaimed poetry collections and contributions to contemporary Indian literature. Her works often explore themes of identity, feminism, and the human experience.
Sharanya Mukherjee, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer born in 1976, has also made a significant impact in the field of Kathak, one of the major classical dance forms of India. Her performances and choreography have been widely acclaimed both in India and internationally.
Sharanya Reddy, born in 1973, is a renowned Indian diplomat and current Ambassador of India to Sri Lanka. Her career in the Indian Foreign Service has spanned various diplomatic roles, including postings in countries like Bhutan, Japan, and the United States.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Sharanya throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry associated with this name of Sanskrit origin.
People
Sharanya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharanya 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
Sharanya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharanya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 340 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharanya 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 1,008,101 US residents.
Is Sharanya a common name?
We classify Sharanya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 344 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharanya most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharanya was 2015, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharanya is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sharanya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharanya 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.