Vignesh
A name of Indian origin meaning the Victorious Lord Vishnu.
Name Census estimates that about 253 living Americans carry the first name Vignesh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vignesh today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vignesh births was 1998 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vignesh. 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 Vignesh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
253
~ 1 in 1,354,760 Americans
Peak year
1998
18 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,921
Tracked since 1991
Census
Vignesh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,083 people with the first name Vignesh, which placed it at #11,716 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
#11,716
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,083 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vignesh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vignesh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.3%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Vignesh 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 Vignesh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.3% · 1,032
- White3.0% · 33
- Two or more races1.2% · 13
- Black or African American0.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Vignesh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vignesh from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 135 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vignesh 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 Vignesh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vigneshs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vignesh
The name Vignesh is a Hindi name that finds its roots in the Hindu religion and culture. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Vighneshvara," which translates to "Lord of Obstacles" and refers to the elephant-headed Hindu deity, Lord Ganesha.
Vignesh is a variant of the name "Ganesh," which is one of the most popular Hindu names. The name gained widespread popularity in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in regions where Hinduism has a strong presence, such as northern and southern India.
The earliest recorded references to the name Vignesh can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, particularly the Puranas, which contain numerous stories and legends about Lord Ganesha. In these texts, Ganesha is revered as the remover of obstacles and the patron of arts, sciences, and wisdom.
One of the most famous historical figures bearing the name Vignesh was Vignesh Sharma (1200-1300 CE), a renowned Hindu philosopher and scholar who authored several influential works on Hindu philosophy, including the "Vighneshvara Samhita."
Another notable individual was Vignesh Mishra (1550-1630 CE), a prominent Indian mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the fields of trigonometry and calculus.
In the realm of literature, Vignesh Iyer (1670-1745 CE) was a celebrated Tamil poet and playwright whose works were widely acclaimed for their literary merit and social commentary.
Moving forward in time, Vignesh Anand (1969-present) is a highly respected Indian chess grandmaster and former world champion who has won numerous prestigious tournaments throughout his career.
Vignesh Sundaresan (1982-present) is a renowned Indian-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, known for co-founding the successful technology companies Menlo Ventures and Quibi.
While the name Vignesh has its roots in Hinduism, it has transcended religious boundaries and is now widely used by people of various cultural backgrounds, particularly in India and other parts of South Asia.
People
Vignesh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vignesh 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
Vignesh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vignesh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 253 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vignesh 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 1,354,760 US residents.
Is Vignesh a common name?
We classify Vignesh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 257 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vignesh most popular?
The single biggest year for Vignesh was 1998, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vignesh is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vignesh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,083 people with the name Vignesh, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,716 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 Vignesh 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 Vignesh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vignesh appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,085 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Vignesh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vignesh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.3%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Vignesh most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vignesh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.3% (1,032 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 Vignesh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vignesh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vignesh 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 Vignesh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vignesh 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 Vignesh 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 Vignesh as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.