Vada
A feminine name of Indian origin meaning "a lentil or small bean".
Name Census estimates that about 5,957 living Americans carry the first name Vada. It is a predominantly female name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Vada today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vada births was 2020 (335 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vada. 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
- • Although Vada is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 162 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
6.0K
~ 1 in 57,538 Americans
Peak year
2020
335 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
1989 SSA rank
#960
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Vada
Vada leans heavily female at 98.7% of total registrations, but 162 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vada as a male name
- Ranked #7,863 in 1989
- 6 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1961 (33 births)
Vada as a female name
- Ranked #960 in 2024
- 272 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (335 births)
Popularity
Vada: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vada from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,173 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Vada remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vada 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 Vada during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vadas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Vada, while South Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 183 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vada
The name Vada is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest languages in the world, dating back to the second millennium BCE. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "vadah," which means "to speak" or "to argue." This suggests that the name may have been originally given to individuals who were skilled orators or had a talent for debate and public speaking.
In ancient Indian texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, there are references to individuals with the name Vada or variations of it. For example, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad mentions a sage named Vadava, who was a student of the renowned teacher Yajnavalkya. This suggests that the name has been in use for thousands of years in the Indian subcontinent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vada can be found in the Mahabharata, the great Sanskrit epic of ancient India. In this epic, there is a character named Vadavagni, who was a powerful warrior and the son of the sage Richika. This indicates that the name was not only used for scholars and philosophers but also for warriors and nobility.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Vada. One of the most famous was Vadavatara, a 7th-century Indian philosopher and logician who made significant contributions to the field of Indian logic and epistemology. Another notable figure was Vada Srinivasa Sastri, a 19th-century Indian scholar and poet who was renowned for his works in Telugu literature.
In more recent times, the name Vada has been associated with several influential individuals. Vada Pinson, an American baseball player who played for the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1950s and 1960s, was a four-time All-Star and won a World Series championship with the Reds in 1961. Vada Nobles, an American actress and singer, had a successful career in television and film during the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in various musicals and comedies.
While the name Vada may not be as common in modern times, its rich history and cultural significance in the Indian subcontinent have endured for centuries. From ancient sages and philosophers to modern-day athletes and artists, the name Vada has been borne by individuals who have made significant contributions to various fields throughout history.
People
Vada + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vada as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vada: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vada?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,957 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vada 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 57,538 US residents.
Is Vada a common name?
We classify Vada as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,785 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vada most popular?
The single biggest year for Vada was 2020, when 335 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vada is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Vada a female name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Vada 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.