Find out how popular the last name Ranganathan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ranganathan.

Ranganathan, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ranganathan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ranganathan in America

Ranganathan is the 30825th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ranganathan surname appeared 755 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Ranganathan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ranganathan to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ranganathan

The surname Ranganathan is of Indian origin, specifically from the Tamil-speaking regions of southern India. It dates back to ancient times and is derived from the combination of two Sanskrit words, "Ranga" meaning colorful or pleasing, and "Natha" meaning master or lord.

This surname finds its roots in the Hindu mythological and cultural traditions, where it was likely used to refer to individuals associated with the worship of Lord Ranganatha, a form of the Hindu deity Vishnu. It is believed to have originated among the priestly and scholarly communities of the region.

Historical records indicate that the name Ranganathan was present in various ancient Tamil literary works, such as the Sangam literature, which dates back to the early centuries of the common era. It is also found in inscriptions and records from the medieval period, particularly during the reign of the Chola and Vijayanagar empires.

One of the earliest documented individuals with the surname Ranganathan was Govinda Dikshitar Ranganathan, a renowned Hindu philosopher and scholar who lived in the 8th century CE. He is known for his contributions to the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.

Another notable figure was Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), a self-taught mathematical genius from Tamil Nadu, whose groundbreaking contributions to the field of mathematics have been widely recognized. He is often referred to as one of the greatest mathematical geniuses of all time.

In the 20th century, Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (1892-1972) was a pioneering librarian and professor who is considered the father of library science in India. His "Five Laws of Library Science" have had a profound impact on the field and are widely studied and applied globally.

The surname Ranganathan has also been associated with several notable personalities in the fields of literature, arts, and science. This includes the renowned Tamil writer and journalist Kalki Ranganathan (1899-1954), who played a significant role in the Tamil literary renaissance of the early 20th century.

P. V. Ranganathan (1910-1995) was a distinguished Indian lawyer and jurist who served as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and later as a member of the International Court of Justice.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ranganathan

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ranganathan.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ranganathan was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ranganathan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ranganathan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ranganathan, please contact us.

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