Vijay
An Indian given name meaning "victory" or "triumph".
Name Census estimates that about 1,439 living Americans carry the first name Vijay. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vijay today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vijay births was 2006 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vijay. 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.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 238,189 Americans
Peak year
2006
49 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,731
Tracked since 1963
Popularity
Vijay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vijay from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 379 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
Vijay 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 Vijay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vijays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Vijay, while Florida, Texas, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vijay
The name Vijay is of Sanskrit origin and has been in use for centuries in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. The word "vijay" in Sanskrit means "victory" or "conquest," and the name is often associated with success, triumph, and overcoming obstacles.
One of the earliest references to the name can be found in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas. In these texts, the name is sometimes used as an epithet for various deities and heroes who achieved great victories or overcame powerful adversaries.
The name Vijay also has a significant presence in Indian history and mythology. One of the most famous figures bearing this name is Vijaya, the legendary prince who is said to have founded the Kingdom of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) in the 6th century BCE. According to the Mahavamsa, an ancient chronicle of Sri Lankan history, Vijaya was a prince from the Indian subcontinent who arrived in Sri Lanka with 700 followers and established the Sinhalese monarchy.
Another notable historical figure named Vijay was Vijayaraja Srivallabha, a ruler of the Chalukya dynasty who reigned in the 12th century CE. He is known for his military conquests and for patronizing the arts and literature during his reign.
In more recent times, several prominent individuals have borne the name Vijay. One of the most famous is Vijay Amritraj, an Indian-American former professional tennis player who was born in 1953. He was a highly successful player in the 1970s and 1980s, winning numerous titles and representing India in the Davis Cup.
Another notable Vijay is Vijay Mallya, an Indian businessman and former member of parliament, born in 1955. He is the former chairman of the United Breweries Group and was once considered one of the wealthiest individuals in India.
Vijay Hazare, an Indian cricketer born in 1915, was a successful captain of the Indian cricket team in the 1940s and 1950s. He is renowned for his leadership and batting skills, and a prestigious domestic cricket tournament in India is named after him.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, born in 1978, is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur and the founder of the digital payments company Paytm. He is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in India's tech industry and has been recognized with various awards and honors.
Vijay Iyer, born in 1971, is an American composer and jazz pianist of Indian descent. He is a Grammy-nominated artist known for his innovative and genre-bending approach to jazz, blending Indian classical music influences with contemporary styles.
People
Vijay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vijay 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
Vijay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vijay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,439 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vijay 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 238,189 US residents.
Is Vijay a common name?
We classify Vijay as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,490 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vijay most popular?
The single biggest year for Vijay was 2006, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vijay is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Vijay a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vijay 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.
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.