Sreshta
A Sanskrit name meaning excellent, supreme or virtuous.
Name Census estimates that about 210 living Americans carry the first name Sreshta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sreshta today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sreshta births was 2017 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sreshta. 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
210
~ 1 in 1,632,164 Americans
Peak year
2017
20 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,255
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Sreshta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sreshta from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 127 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sreshta remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sreshta 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 Sreshta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sreshtas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sreshta
The name Sreshta finds its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was spoken in ancient India and is closely tied to Hindu culture and religious texts. The word "Sreshta" means "best" or "excellent" in Sanskrit, indicating that the name carries a sense of superiority or excellence.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Sreshta can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a warrior and a prince. This epic dates back to around the 8th century BCE, suggesting that the name has been in use for over 2,500 years.
In Hindu mythology, the name Sreshta is also associated with the god Vishnu, who is considered the preserver and protector of the universe. Some Hindu scriptures refer to Vishnu as "Sreshta-purusha," meaning the supreme or best being.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sreshta. One of the earliest examples is Sreshta Nath (1262-1350), a renowned Bengali philosopher and poet who made significant contributions to the Bhakti movement, a spiritual renaissance that swept across the Indian subcontinent during the medieval period.
Another prominent figure was Sreshta Saraswati (1484-1568), a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet from the Vijayanagar Empire in present-day southern India. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of his time and is known for his works that celebrated Hindu deities and traditions.
In more recent times, Sreshta Mukherjee (1898-1987) was an influential Indian politician and diplomat who served as the first Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom after India gained independence in 1947. He played a crucial role in strengthening diplomatic ties between India and the UK during the post-colonial era.
Another notable figure was Sreshta Thakur (1914-1999), an acclaimed Indian classical dancer and choreographer who is credited with reviving and popularizing the Kathak dance form in the 20th century. She received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of Indian classical dance.
Sreshta Bharadwaj (1936-2012) was a distinguished Indian physicist and academic who made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics. He served as the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai and received several prestigious awards, including the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
People
Sreshta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sreshta 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
Sreshta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sreshta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 210 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sreshta 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 1,632,164 US residents.
Is Sreshta a common name?
We classify Sreshta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 212 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sreshta most popular?
The single biggest year for Sreshta was 2017, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sreshta is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sreshta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sreshta 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.