2000
#35,187
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 606
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.22
Rare Last name
Balasubramanian
A Tamil surname referring to a follower or devotee of Lord Subramaniam.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,571 Americans carry the last name Balasubramanian. That puts it at #13,078 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 133,316 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Balasubramanian surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Balasubramanian with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.6K
1 in 133,316
Census rank
#13,078
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,242 bearers of the surname Balasubramanian in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13078th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Balasubramanian, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Balasubramanian
The surname BALASUBRAMANIAN is of Indian origin, specifically from the Tamil region of southern India. It is a patronymic name, derived from the combination of two Sanskrit words – "Bala" meaning "strength" or "power", and "Subramanian" which is a reference to the Hindu deity Lord Murugan, also known as Subrahmanya or Kartikeya.
The earliest known references to this surname can be traced back to the medieval Tamil literature, particularly in the works of renowned poets and scholars from the Chola and Pandya dynasties, which ruled over parts of present-day Tamil Nadu between the 9th and 13th centuries CE. The name was prevalent among the scholarly Brahmin communities of the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name BALASUBRAMANIAN can be found in the inscriptions of the Chola king Rajaraja Chola I (985-1014 CE), who commissioned the construction of the magnificent Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur. The temple's construction was overseen by a scholar and architect named Balasubramanian Ravi, who is believed to have lived during the late 10th century CE.
In the 16th century, the renowned Tamil scholar and philosopher Balasubramanian Dikshitar (1515-1589 CE) gained prominence for his contributions to the study of Advaita Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy. His commentaries on sacred texts such as the Brahma Sutras and the Upanishads are widely studied and revered to this day.
During the 17th century, Balasubramanian Iyer (1621-1699 CE), a renowned mathematician and astronomer from Thanjavur, made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and calendar calculations. His works on planetary movements and celestial calculations were highly regarded in his time.
In the 19th century, Balasubramanian Mudaliar (1829-1892 CE), a prominent scholar and social reformer from Tamil Nadu, played a crucial role in advocating for the abolition of certain regressive social practices and promoting education among the marginalized communities of the region.
Another notable bearer of the surname was Balasubramanian Ramanujan (1887-1920 CE), a self-taught mathematical genius from Tamil Nadu, who made groundbreaking contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the areas of infinite series and continued fractions. His work has had a profound impact on modern mathematics and continues to be studied and celebrated by mathematicians around the world.
While the surname BALASUBRAMANIAN has its roots in the Tamil region, it has since spread across India and can be found among various communities, particularly among those with a Brahmin background. The name's origins can be traced back to the rich cultural and literary traditions of ancient Tamil Nadu, reflecting the region's deep-rooted reverence for knowledge, scholarship, and spirituality.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Balasubramanian
Among Census respondents with the surname Balasubramanian, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Balasubramanian bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Balasubramanian surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.5% · 2,164
- White1.4% · 32
- Two or more races0.9% · 21
- Black or African American0.6% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Balasubramanian
Balasubramanian appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#19,105
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,424
+818 bearers (+135.0%)
Per 100,000 0.48
Rank movement Up 16,082 places
2020
#13,078
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,242
+818 bearers (+57.4%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Up 6,027 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #35,187 | 606 | 0.22 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #19,105 | 1,424 | 0.48 | +818 bearers (+135.0%) | Up 16,082 places |
| 2020 | #13,078 | 2,242 | 0.75 | +818 bearers (+57.4%) | Up 6,027 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Balasubramanian surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #19,105 | #13,078 | 31.5% |
| Count | 1,424 | 2,242 | 57.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.48 | 0.75 | 56.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Balasubramanian bearers went from 1,424 to 2,242 (+57.4% change). The surname moved up 6,027 positions in the national ranking, going from #19,105 to #13,078.
FAQ
Balasubramanian surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Balasubramanian?
Name Census estimates that about 2,571 living Americans carry the surname Balasubramanian. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 133,316 residents.
How common is Balasubramanian?
Balasubramanian ranks #13,078 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,242 people with the surname Balasubramanian. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,571), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.75 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.75 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Balasubramanian.
Has Balasubramanian become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Balasubramanian went from 1,424 recorded bearers to 2,242. That is an increase of 818 (+57.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #19,105 to #13,078.
What does the Census say about the background of Balasubramanian?
Among Census respondents with the surname Balasubramanian, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Balasubramanian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.5% (2,164 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Balasubramanian appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (96.5%), White (1.4%), Two or More Races (0.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Balasubramanian (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Balasubramanian mean?
A Tamil surname referring to a follower or devotee of Lord Subramaniam. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Balasubramanian (0.75 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Balasubramanian?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Balasubramanian, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.