Usha
A feminine given name of Sanskrit origin meaning "dawn" or "morning rays".
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Usha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Usha today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Usha births was 1973 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Usha. 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 Usha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
1973
12 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2019 SSA rank
#17,788
Tracked since 1951
Census
Usha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,206 people with the first name Usha, which placed it at #3,802 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
#3,802
National first-name rank
People counted
5.2K
5,206 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Usha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Usha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Usha 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 Usha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.9% · 4,891
- White2.1% · 110
- Two or more races1.7% · 88
- Black or African American1.6% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 15
Popularity
Usha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Usha from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 78 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Usha 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 Usha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Usha
Usha is a Sanskrit name that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Ushas," which means dawn or the morning rays of the sun. The name has been in use for centuries and is associated with Hindu mythology and ancient Vedic texts.
In Hindu mythology, Usha is the name of the goddess of dawn. She is depicted as a beautiful young woman who rides a chariot drawn by horses or bulls. The Rig Veda, one of the oldest and most sacred Hindu scriptures, contains numerous hymns dedicated to Usha, praising her beauty and the renewal of life that comes with each new day.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Usha can be found in the Mahabharata, a monumental Sanskrit epic from ancient India. In the epic, Usha is the name of a princess who falls in love with Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Krishna. Their love story is a celebrated tale of devotion and perseverance.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Usha. One of the most famous is Usha Mehta (1920-2000), an Indian freedom fighter and politician who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. She was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and worked tirelessly for women's rights and social reform.
Another notable Usha is Usha Uthup (born 1947), an Indian pop singer and musician. She is known for her versatile voice and energetic stage performances, and has won numerous awards throughout her career, including the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.
In the field of literature, Usha Narayanan (born 1933) is a renowned Indian author and journalist. She has written numerous books, including novels, short stories, and plays, and has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, India's highest literary honor.
Usha Parmar (1933-2020) was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who played a significant role in preserving and promoting the Kathak dance form. She received the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, for her contributions to the arts.
Usha Rajeswari (born 1942) is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who has been instrumental in popularizing the Bharatanatyam dance form. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the Padma Shri and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
People
Usha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Usha 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
Usha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Usha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Usha 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 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Usha a common name?
We classify Usha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Usha most popular?
The single biggest year for Usha was 1973, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Usha is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Usha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,206 people with the name Usha, or 1.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,802 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 Usha 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 Usha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Usha appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,205 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Usha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Usha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Usha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Usha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (4,891 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 Usha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Usha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Usha 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 Usha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Usha 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 Usha 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 the name Usha?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Usha, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.