Vilas
A masculine name of Indian origin meaning "brave", "fighter" or "indomitable".
Name Census estimates that about 65 living Americans carry the first name Vilas. It is a predominantly male name (97.2% of registrations). The average person named Vilas today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vilas births was 1917 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vilas. 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
- • The typical person named Vilas is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vilas' were born before 1955.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Vilas. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
65
~ 1 in 5,273,144 Americans
Peak year
1917
27 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1983 SSA rank
#3,942
Tracked since 1913
Census
Vilas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 459 people with the first name Vilas, which placed it at #21,899 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
#21,899
National first-name rank
People counted
459
459 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
59.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vilas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vilas is Asian/Pacific Islander at 59.9%. The next largest groups are White (32.7%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Vilas 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 Vilas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander59.9% · 275
- White32.7% · 150
- Two or more races2.4% · 11
- Black or African American2.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Vilas
Vilas leans heavily male at 97.2% of total registrations, but 14 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vilas as a male name
- Ranked #6,201 in 1983
- 6 male births in 1983
- Peak: 1917 (27 births)
Vilas as a female name
- Ranked #3,942 in 1920
- 8 female births in 1920
- Peak: 1920 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vilas on both sides of the split. Of the 465 people counted with this name, 338 were male (72.7%) and 127 were female (27.3%).
Popularity
Vilas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vilas from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 204 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vilas 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 Vilas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vilas' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vilas
The name Vilas has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. It stems from the Sanskrit word "vila," which means "play," "sport," or "pastime." Tracing its roots back to ancient India, the name carries connotations of playfulness, joy, and leisure.
During the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, the name Vilas appeared in several Hindu sacred texts, including the Vedas and the Upanishads. It was often used to describe the divine play or leela of the gods, particularly in relation to the Supreme Being, Vishnu.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vilas can be found in the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Hindu scripture believed to have been composed between the 5th and 2nd centuries BCE. In this text, the name is used to refer to the playful and delightful nature of the divine.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Vilas. One of the most famous was Vilas Rao Naik (1766-1840), a prominent ruler of the Indian princely state of Sawantwadi during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was known for his patronage of the arts and his efforts to modernize his kingdom.
Another prominent individual with the name Vilas was Vilas Patil (1879-1946), an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. He worked tirelessly to promote education and social justice, particularly for the underprivileged.
In more recent times, Vilas Nath (1928-2018) was a renowned Indian mathematician and educator. He made significant contributions to the field of algebraic geometry and served as the vice-chancellor of the University of Allahabad from 1983 to 1987.
Vilas Satre (1932-2015) was a prominent Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket for Mumbai and represented India in five Test matches between 1952 and 1959. He was known for his aggressive batting style and his contributions to the game in India.
Lastly, Vilas Muttemwar (born 1938) is a former Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress party. He served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, from 1984 to 2014, representing the Nagpur constituency.
With its roots in Sanskrit and its association with the divine play of the gods, the name Vilas carries a rich cultural and historical significance in the Indian subcontinent. Its meaning of playfulness and joy has resonated through the ages, embodied by notable figures who have left their mark in various fields.
People
Vilas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vilas 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
Vilas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vilas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vilas 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 5,273,144 US residents.
Is Vilas a common name?
We classify Vilas as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 507 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vilas most popular?
The single biggest year for Vilas was 1917, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vilas is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vilas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 459 people with the name Vilas, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,899 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 Vilas 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 Vilas?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vilas on both sides of the split. Of the 465 people counted with this name, 338 were male (72.7%) and 127 were female (27.3%). 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 Vilas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vilas is Asian/Pacific Islander at 59.9%. The next largest groups are White (32.7%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Vilas most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vilas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.9% (275 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 Vilas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vilas a male name?
Yes, 97.2% of people registered as Vilas 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 Vilas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vilas 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 Vilas 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 Americans are named Vilas?
See how many Americans are named Vilas on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.