Abhay
A masculine Sanskrit name meaning "fearless" or "one without fear".
Name Census estimates that about 888 living Americans carry the first name Abhay. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Abhay today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abhay births was 2016 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abhay. 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 Abhay with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
888
~ 1 in 385,985 Americans
Peak year
2016
49 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,037
Tracked since 1977
Census
Abhay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,572 people with the first name Abhay, which placed it at #9,016 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
#9,016
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,572 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abhay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abhay is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Abhay 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 Abhay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.7% · 1,489
- White2.0% · 32
- Two or more races1.4% · 22
- Black or African American0.6% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 9
Popularity
Abhay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abhay from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 396 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Abhay remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abhay 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 Abhay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abhays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Abhay, while North Carolina, Florida, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abhay
The name Abhay is of Sanskrit origin and has its roots in ancient Indian culture. It is composed of the Sanskrit prefix "a," meaning "not" or "without," and the word "bhaya," meaning "fear" or "terror." Therefore, Abhay can be translated as "fearless," "courageous," or "without fear."
In Hindu mythology, Abhay is one of the names associated with Lord Vishnu, the preserver and protector of the universe. Vishnu is often depicted holding a conch shell, a mace, a discus, and a lotus flower, symbolizing the four cardinal virtues of dharma, artha, kama, and moksha. The name Abhay is also mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, as a quality of a spiritually enlightened individual who has transcended the fear of death and rebirth.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Abhay can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Abhay was the name of a Kshatriya prince who fought alongside the Pandavas in the great Kurukshetra war. His bravery and fearlessness in battle were celebrated in the epic.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Abhay. One such individual was Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), a Hindu spiritual teacher and the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna movement. He played a significant role in spreading the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and Krishna consciousness to the Western world.
Another famous Abhay was Abhay Kumar Khanna (1911-1984), an Indian freedom fighter and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 1975 to 1977. He played a crucial role in the integration of the state with the Indian Union and worked towards its development.
In the field of literature, Abhay K. (1915-1993) was a prominent Hindi poet, novelist, and playwright. His works, such as "Uski Roti" and "Mukti Marg," explored themes of social injustice and human suffering. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, for his contributions to literature.
Abhay Vasant Deodhar (1924-2014) was an Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket for Maharashtra and Mumbai. He captained the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team and was known for his aggressive batting style and leadership qualities on the field.
Abhay Charan De (1923-2014) was a renowned Indian classical vocalist and exponent of the Kirana gharana. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor, in recognition of his contributions to Hindustani classical music.
People
Abhay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abhay as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Abhay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abhay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 888 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abhay 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 385,985 US residents.
Is Abhay a common name?
We classify Abhay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 897 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abhay most popular?
The single biggest year for Abhay was 2016, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abhay is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abhay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,572 people with the name Abhay, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,016 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 Abhay 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 Abhay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abhay appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,571 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Abhay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abhay is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Abhay most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Abhay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (1,489 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 Abhay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abhay a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abhay 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 Abhay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abhay 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 Abhay 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 are called Abhay?
You can see how many Americans are named Abhay on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.