Udana
A Sanskrit name meaning joyful, rising up, or uplifting.
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Udana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Udana today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Udana births was 1975 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Udana. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Udana. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1975
18 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1976 SSA rank
#8,126
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Udana: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Udana 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 Udana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0 | 30 | 30 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Udana
The name Udana has its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word "udana," which means "rising up" or "soaring." This suggests that the name may have been associated with concepts of elevation, ascent, or spiritual growth.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Udana can be found in the Udana, a canonical Buddhist scripture that is part of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. This text, composed in Pali language, consists of short discourses attributed to the Buddha. The name Udana itself may have been chosen to represent the uplifting or inspiring nature of the teachings contained within the text.
In ancient Indian literature, the name Udana is associated with a few notable figures. One such figure is Udana, a disciple of the Buddha mentioned in the Udana scripture. Another is Udana, a king of the Sunga Empire who ruled in the 2nd century BCE. However, historical records from this period are often scarce, and details about these individuals remain limited.
As the name Udana originated in the Indian subcontinent, its earliest recorded bearers were likely from this region. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Udana Kumara, a Buddhist monk and scholar who lived in the 5th century CE. He was a renowned teacher and is credited with authoring several works on Buddhist philosophy and practice.
Another notable figure with the name Udana was Udana Vatsyayana, a Sanskrit scholar and philosopher who lived in the 7th century CE. He is best known for his work, the Kama Sutra, which is a treatise on human sexual behavior and the pursuit of pleasure.
In more recent times, the name Udana has been borne by individuals such as Udana Kyaw Thein, a Burmese politician and former Prime Minister of Myanmar, who lived from 1914 to 1997. Udana Shri, a prominent Indian classical dancer and choreographer, was also a bearer of this name in the 20th century.
While the name Udana may not be as common today as it once was, its origins and historical associations with Buddhist teachings, ancient Indian literature, and notable scholars and figures from the Indian subcontinent have contributed to its enduring legacy.
People
Udana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Udana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Udana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Udana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Udana 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Udana a common name?
We classify Udana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Udana most popular?
The single biggest year for Udana was 1975, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Udana is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Udana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Udana 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.