Vamsi
A Hindu masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "like the sun".
Name Census estimates that about 73 living Americans carry the first name Vamsi. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vamsi today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vamsi births was 2003 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vamsi. 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 Vamsi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
73
~ 1 in 4,695,265 Americans
Peak year
2003
10 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2006 SSA rank
#11,971
Tracked since 1993
Census
Vamsi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 972 people with the first name Vamsi, which placed it at #12,702 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
#12,702
National first-name rank
People counted
972
972 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vamsi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vamsi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Vamsi 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 Vamsi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.3% · 936
- White1.5% · 15
- Black or African American1.0% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
- Two or more races0.1% · 1
Popularity
Vamsi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vamsi from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 50 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vamsi 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 Vamsi 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 Vamsi
The name Vamsi has its origins in the Telugu language, which is spoken primarily in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "vamsha," meaning "bamboo" or "family lineage." The name is believed to have been in use since ancient times, carrying cultural significance in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vamsi can be found in Hindu mythology, where it is mentioned in the Puranas as the name of a sage or rishi. In the Bhagavata Purana, a revered Hindu scripture, Vamsi is described as a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and is celebrated for his unwavering devotion and spiritual insights.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vamsi. One of the earliest known figures was Vamsi Datta (c. 1500 BCE), a renowned Sanskrit scholar and grammarian who made significant contributions to the study of the Sanskrit language. His work, the "Vamsi Sutras," is considered a seminal text in the field of Sanskrit grammar.
Another prominent figure was Vamsi Vadiraja (c. 1350 CE), a renowned mathematician and astronomer from the Vijayanagar Empire in southern India. He is credited with several advancements in the fields of mathematics and astronomy, including the development of new computational methods for astronomical calculations.
In the realm of literature, Vamsi Manohar (1840-1920) was a celebrated Telugu poet and writer who played a pivotal role in the renaissance of Telugu literature during the 19th century. His poetic works, such as "Vamsi Kirtanalu," are revered for their lyrical beauty and cultural significance.
More recently, Vamsi Krishna (1941-2010) was a prominent Indian film director and screenwriter, known for his contributions to the Telugu cinema industry. He directed several critically acclaimed films and is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Telugu parallel cinema movement.
Vamsi Paidipally (born 1980) is a contemporary Indian film director and screenwriter, best known for his commercially successful and critically acclaimed Telugu films, such as "Yevadu" and "Maharshi." His work has garnered widespread recognition and numerous accolades within the Indian film industry.
People
Vamsi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vamsi 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
Vamsi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vamsi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 73 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vamsi 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 4,695,265 US residents.
Is Vamsi a common name?
We classify Vamsi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 74 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vamsi most popular?
The single biggest year for Vamsi was 2003, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vamsi is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vamsi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 972 people with the name Vamsi, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,702 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 Vamsi 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 Vamsi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vamsi leans strongly male. 948 people counted with this name were male (96.5%), compared with 34 female bearers (3.5%). 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 Vamsi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vamsi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Vamsi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vamsi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (936 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 Vamsi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vamsi a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vamsi in the SSA data are male. 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 Vamsi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vamsi 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 Vamsi 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 common is the name Vamsi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.