Vandana
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "salutation, prayer, adoration".
Name Census estimates that about 92 living Americans carry the first name Vandana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vandana today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vandana births was 2000 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vandana. 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 Vandana. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
92
~ 1 in 3,725,591 Americans
Peak year
2000
10 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,930
Tracked since 1972
Popularity
Vandana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vandana from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 34 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
Vandana 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 Vandana 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 Vandana
The name Vandana is derived from the Sanskrit language and has its origins in ancient India. It is a combination of the Sanskrit words "van" meaning "to praise" or "to welcome," and "dana" meaning "gift" or "offering." The name Vandana thus signifies "praise," "adoration," or "welcoming with reverence."
Vandana is a commonly used name in Hinduism and is often associated with various Hindu rituals and ceremonies. It is found in several ancient Hindu texts, including the Vedas and the Puranas, where it is used to refer to acts of worship, reverence, and devotion towards the divine.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Vandana can be found in the Rig Veda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism, composed around 1500-1200 BCE. The Rig Veda contains numerous hymns and verses that mention the act of "vandana" or praising the deities.
Throughout Indian history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vandana. One of the earliest recorded examples is Vandana Shiva (1952 - present), an Indian scholar, environmental activist, and author who has written extensively on the topics of ecology, sustainable agriculture, and women's rights.
Another prominent figure is Vandana Luthra (1944 - present), an Indian civil servant and the first woman to be appointed as the chairperson of the Staff Selection Commission of India in 2002.
In the field of literature, Vandana Shiva Shastri (1928 - 2003) was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to Sanskrit literature.
The name Vandana has also been associated with the performing arts. Vandana Vajpai (1930 - 2010) was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer who was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 1992.
Lastly, Vandana Shiva Raje (1942 - present) is an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress party. She has served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, representing the Gwalior constituency in Madhya Pradesh.
People
Vandana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vandana 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
Vandana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vandana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 92 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vandana 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 3,725,591 US residents.
Is Vandana a common name?
We classify Vandana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 97 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vandana most popular?
The single biggest year for Vandana was 2000, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vandana is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Vandana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vandana 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.