Vishnu
One whose strides cover the entire universe, a Hindu deity responsible for preservation.
Name Census estimates that about 1,098 living Americans carry the first name Vishnu. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vishnu today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vishnu births was 2007 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vishnu. 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 Vishnu with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 312,162 Americans
Peak year
2007
65 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,033
Tracked since 1977
Census
Vishnu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,601 people with the first name Vishnu, which placed it at #6,218 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
#6,218
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,601 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vishnu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vishnu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and White (3.7%). 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 Vishnu 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 Vishnu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander87.9% · 2,287
- Black or African American4.6% · 119
- White3.7% · 96
- Two or more races1.8% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 23
Popularity
Vishnu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vishnu from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 466 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
Vishnu 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 Vishnu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vishnus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Vishnu, while Ohio, New York, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vishnu
The name Vishnu has its origins in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. It is derived from the root word "vish," which means "to pervade" or "to enter into." The name Vishnu is associated with the supreme Hindu deity, who is believed to be the preserver of the universe.
In Hindu mythology, Vishnu is one of the three principal deities of the Trimurti, along with Brahma (the creator) and Shiva (the destroyer). He is depicted as having four arms, holding a conch shell, a chakra (a spinning disc), a mace, and a lotus flower. Vishnu is believed to have taken various avatars or incarnations throughout history to restore dharma (righteousness) and protect the world from evil forces.
The name Vishnu appears in several ancient Hindu texts, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Puranas. The Vishnu Purana, one of the principal Puranas, is dedicated to the stories and teachings associated with the deity Vishnu. The Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text in Hinduism, is a dialogue between Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, and the warrior Arjuna.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Vishnu can be found in the Rigveda, one of the oldest and most sacred scriptures of Hinduism, which dates back to around 1500-1200 BCE. The name is also mentioned in the Mahabharata, the epic Sanskrit poem that recounts the story of the Kurukshetra War and the teachings of Lord Krishna.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vishnu. One of the most famous is the 7th-century Hindu philosopher Vishnu Sharma, who is credited with writing the Panchatantra, a collection of fables and folk tales that convey moral principles and practical wisdom.
Another prominent figure named Vishnu was Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872-1963), an Indian musician and educator who played a significant role in reviving and popularizing Hindustani classical music in the 20th century.
Vishnu Narayanan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) was an Indian musicologist and writer who made significant contributions to the study and codification of Hindustani classical music. He is known for his work on the raga system and the development of a notation system for Indian music.
Vishnu Prabhakar (1912-2009) was an Indian freedom fighter and political activist who participated in the Indian independence movement against British rule. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India.
Vishnu Deva Saran Agarwala (1905-1988) was an Indian filmmaker and playwright who is considered one of the pioneers of Assamese cinema. He directed the first Assamese film, "Joymati," in 1935 and played a crucial role in the development of the Assamese film industry.
People
Vishnu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vishnu 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
Vishnu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vishnu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,098 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vishnu 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 312,162 US residents.
Is Vishnu a common name?
We classify Vishnu as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vishnu most popular?
The single biggest year for Vishnu was 2007, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vishnu is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vishnu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,601 people with the name Vishnu, or 0.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,218 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 Vishnu 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 Vishnu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vishnu leans strongly male. 2,515 people counted with this name were male (96.5%), compared with 91 female bearers (3.5%). 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 Vishnu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vishnu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and White (3.7%). 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 Vishnu most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vishnu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (2,287 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 Vishnu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vishnu a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vishnu 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 Vishnu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vishnu 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 Vishnu 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 Vishnu as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Vishnu on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.