Suhani
A feminine name of Hindi origin meaning "lovely" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 948 living Americans carry the first name Suhani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Suhani today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Suhani births was 2007 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Suhani. 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 Suhani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
948
~ 1 in 361,555 Americans
Peak year
2007
98 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,750
Tracked since 1996
Census
Suhani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,000 people with the first name Suhani, which placed it at #12,439 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
#12,439
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,000 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Suhani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suhani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.2%). 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 Suhani 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 Suhani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.5% · 935
- Two or more races2.7% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 12
- White0.9% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 9
- Black or African American0.8% · 8
Popularity
Suhani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Suhani from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 435 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Suhani 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 Suhani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Suhanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Suhani, while Virginia, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Suhani
Suhani is a feminine given name of Sanskrit origin, derived from the words "su" meaning "good" and "hani" meaning "destruction" or "annihilation." The name carries the connotation of "one who brings about auspicious destruction" or "one who destroys evil." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, where it was used to describe divine or powerful entities that vanquished darkness and negativity.
The earliest known reference to the name Suhani can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE. In the epic, Suhani is mentioned as an epithet of the goddess Durga, revered as the embodiment of divine feminine power and the destroyer of evil forces.
Throughout history, the name Suhani has been borne by several notable individuals, including Suhani Devi (1673-1744), a renowned Indian poet and composer from the Rajput kingdom of Marwar (present-day Rajasthan). Her compositions, known as "Suhani Devi ki Barahmasa," celebrated the changing seasons and were widely popular during her lifetime.
Another significant figure was Suhani Chauhan (1890-1978), an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer from Uttar Pradesh. She actively participated in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule and played a crucial role in promoting women's education and empowerment.
In the realm of performing arts, Suhani Kalita (1924-2016) was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She contributed immensely to the preservation and promotion of Sattriya dance, a classical dance form from Assam, and was honored with numerous prestigious awards, including the Padma Shri in 1992.
Suhani Bhatnagar (1934-2002) was an Indian author and playwright known for her works in Hindi literature. Her novels and plays explored themes of social injustice, gender inequality, and human relationships, earning her critical acclaim and several literary awards.
Suhani Dhanki (born 1987) is a contemporary Indian actress and model, best known for her roles in various Bollywood films and television shows. She has garnered recognition for her versatile performances and has become a prominent figure in the Indian entertainment industry.
People
Suhani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Suhani 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
Suhani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Suhani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 948 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Suhani 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 361,555 US residents.
Is Suhani a common name?
We classify Suhani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 958 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Suhani most popular?
The single biggest year for Suhani was 2007, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Suhani is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Suhani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,000 people with the name Suhani, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,439 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 Suhani 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 Suhani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Suhani appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,002 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Suhani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suhani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.2%). 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 Suhani most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Suhani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (935 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 Suhani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Suhani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Suhani 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 Suhani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Suhani 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 Suhani 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 have Suhani as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.