Vanda
Of Scandinavian origin, meaning "wanderer" or "one who travels far".
Name Census estimates that about 872 living Americans carry the first name Vanda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vanda today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vanda births was 1960 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vanda. 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 Vanda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
872
~ 1 in 393,067 Americans
Peak year
1960
45 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2002 SSA rank
#17,965
Tracked since 1893
Census
Vanda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,850 people with the first name Vanda, which placed it at #7,974 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
#7,974
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,850 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vanda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vanda is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%). 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 Vanda 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 Vanda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.2% · 1,335
- Black or African American15.2% · 281
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.3% · 135
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 47
- Two or more races2.3% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 9
Popularity
Vanda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vanda from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 338 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vanda 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 Vanda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Kentucky, Texas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Vanda, while New York, Indiana, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vanda
The name Vanda is of Sanskrit origin, derived from the word "vanda," which means "to praise" or "to honor." It is believed to have originated in ancient India, where it was used as a feminine name.
In Hindu mythology, Vanda is associated with the goddess Durga, who is revered as the embodiment of divine strength and protection. The name is mentioned in various ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Puranas and the Vedas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vanda can be found in the epic poem Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a princess. Additionally, there are references to women named Vanda in ancient Indian inscriptions and historical records dating back to the 3rd century BCE.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vanda. One such figure is Vanda Gerty Samakya (1888-1968), an Indonesian painter and artist who is renowned for her vibrant depictions of Balinese culture and landscapes. Another prominent Vanda was Vanda Scaravelli (1908-1999), an Italian yoga teacher and author who developed her own method of practicing yoga based on gravity and releasing tension.
In the field of botany, the name Vanda is associated with a genus of orchids native to Southeast Asia and the East Indies. The Vanda orchid was named by William Roxburgh in 1819, likely inspired by the Sanskrit word "vanda" meaning "to praise," as these flowers were highly valued for their beauty and fragrance.
Vanda Aleksandra Obradović (1892-1975) was a Serbian mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of electromagnetism. She was the first female professor at the University of Belgrade and played a crucial role in advancing women's education in Serbia.
Vanda Polakova (1886-1962) was a Czech painter and illustrator known for her Art Nouveau style and her illustrations for children's books. Her vibrant and whimsical artwork captured the imagination of generations of young readers.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who have borne the name Vanda, highlighting its rich cultural heritage and diverse applications across various fields.
People
Vanda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vanda 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
Vanda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vanda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 872 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vanda 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 393,067 US residents.
Is Vanda a common name?
We classify Vanda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,683 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vanda most popular?
The single biggest year for Vanda was 1960, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vanda is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vanda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,850 people with the name Vanda, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,974 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 Vanda 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 Vanda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vanda leans strongly female. 1,789 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 57 male bearers (3.1%). 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 Vanda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vanda is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%). 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 Vanda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vanda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.2% (1,335 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 Vanda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vanda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vanda 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 Vanda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vanda 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 Vanda 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 are named Vanda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.