2000
#25,503
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 910
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.34
Rare Last name
Pandey
A Hindi surname indicating a learned person or teacher.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,169 Americans carry the last name Pandey. That puts it at #5,385 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.09 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 47,811 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pandey 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 Pandey with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.2K
1 in 47,811
Census rank
#5,385
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,252 bearers of the surname Pandey in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.09 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5385th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pandey, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pandey
The surname Pandey is of Indian origin, tracing its roots back to ancient times. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Pandita," which means a learned or erudite person, signifying a family with a scholarly lineage. The name is predominantly found in the northern regions of India, particularly in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.
The earliest recorded instances of the Pandey surname can be found in ancient Hindu scriptures and historical texts dating back to the 6th century CE. One of the earliest known references is in the Skanda Purana, an ancient Hindu text, which mentions a sage named Pandita, believed to be an ancestor of the Pandey clan.
During the medieval period, the Pandey surname appeared in various royal court records and inscriptions. In the 12th century, a prominent scholar named Pandey Raghunath Shastri served as the chief advisor to the king of the Gahadavala dynasty in the Kannauj region of present-day Uttar Pradesh.
In the 16th century, the Pandey surname gained further prominence when Goswami Tulsidas, the revered author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, was born into a Pandey family in the city of Varanasi. Tulsidas (1532-1623) is considered one of the greatest poets and philosophers in the Hindu tradition.
Another notable figure from the Pandey lineage was Pandit Devi Prasad Pandey (1790-1870), a renowned Sanskrit scholar and linguist from Varanasi. He authored several works on grammar, philosophy, and literature, and is credited with reviving the study of Sanskrit in the 19th century.
In the field of music, the Pandey surname is associated with the celebrated classical vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011), who hailed from a Pandey family in Karnataka. He was a recipient of the highest civilian honors in India, including the Bharat Ratna, and is regarded as a legend in the Hindustani classical music tradition.
The Pandey surname has also been prominent in the Indian freedom struggle against British colonial rule. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946), a renowned educationist and political leader, was a prominent figure from the Pandey community, who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Banaras Hindu University.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pandey
Among Census respondents with the surname Pandey, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Pandey 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 Pandey surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.5% · 5,910
- White2.5% · 156
- Two or more races1.6% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 34
- Black or African American0.5% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 22
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pandey
Pandey 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
#16,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,706
+796 bearers (+87.5%)
Per 100,000 0.58
Rank movement Up 8,748 places
2020
#5,385
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,252
+4,546 bearers (+266.5%)
Per 100,000 2.09
Rank movement Up 11,370 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #25,503 | 910 | 0.34 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #16,755 | 1,706 | 0.58 | +796 bearers (+87.5%) | Up 8,748 places |
| 2020 | #5,385 | 6,252 | 2.09 | +4,546 bearers (+266.5%) | Up 11,370 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 Pandey 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 | #16,755 | #5,385 | 67.9% |
| Count | 1,706 | 6,252 | 266.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.58 | 2.09 | 260.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pandey bearers went from 1,706 to 6,252 (+266.5% change). The surname moved up 11,370 positions in the national ranking, going from #16,755 to #5,385.
FAQ
Pandey surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pandey?
Name Census estimates that about 7,169 living Americans carry the surname Pandey. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 47,811 residents.
How common is Pandey?
Pandey ranks #5,385 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.09 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,252 people with the surname Pandey. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,169), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.09 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.09 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Pandey.
Has Pandey become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pandey went from 1,706 recorded bearers to 6,252. That is an increase of 4,546 (+266.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #16,755 to #5,385.
What does the Census say about the background of Pandey?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pandey, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Pandey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.5% (5,910 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pandey appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (94.5%), White (2.5%), Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Pandey (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 Pandey mean?
A Hindi surname indicating a learned person or teacher. 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 Pandey (2.09 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 common is the surname Pandey?
Want to know how many people have the surname Pandey? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.