Abhishek
One who is worshipped, an honorific title.
Name Census estimates that about 744 living Americans carry the first name Abhishek. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Abhishek today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abhishek births was 2000 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abhishek. 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 Abhishek with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
744
~ 1 in 460,691 Americans
Peak year
2000
63 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2018 SSA rank
#12,177
Tracked since 1981
Census
Abhishek in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,736 people with the first name Abhishek, which placed it at #3,580 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
#3,580
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,736 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abhishek
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abhishek is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Black (0.6%). 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 Abhishek 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 Abhishek at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.0% · 5,508
- White2.4% · 136
- Black or African American0.6% · 35
- Two or more races0.5% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Popularity
Abhishek: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abhishek from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 365 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
Abhishek 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 Abhishek during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abhisheks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Abhishek, while Texas, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abhishek
The name Abhishek originates from the Sanskrit language and has its roots in ancient India. It is a combination of the prefix "abhi" meaning "towards" or "unto" and the word "shek" meaning "to sprinkle" or "to pour". Together, the name Abhishek signifies the act of anointing or consecrating someone with holy water or other sacred substances.
In Hindu tradition, the practice of Abhisheka or sacred bathing is an important ritual performed during religious ceremonies and cultural events. It is believed to purify the individual and bestow blessings from the divine. The name Abhishek is closely associated with this sacred tradition and is often given to children with the hope that they will lead a righteous and spiritually fulfilled life.
The earliest known reference to the name Abhishek can be found in ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas. These sacred texts describe the importance of the Abhisheka ritual and its significance in various religious ceremonies and rites of passage.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Abhishek was Abhishek Manu, who is believed to have lived around the 7th century BCE. He was an Indian sage and philosopher known for his teachings on dharma (righteous conduct) and his contributions to the development of Hindu philosophy.
Another prominent individual with this name was Abhishek Chudamani, a 12th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer from the Kalinga region (present-day Odisha). He is renowned for his work on the concept of zero and his significant contributions to the field of mathematics.
In more recent times, Abhishek Bachchan, an Indian actor born in 1976, has carried on the legacy of this name. He is a prominent figure in the Bollywood film industry and has received numerous awards and accolades for his performances.
Abhishek Nayar, born in 1983, is another notable individual with this name. He is a former Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket for Mumbai and represented India in the ODI format.
Abhishek Singhvi, born in 1959, is an Indian politician and senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India. He has served as a member of parliament and held various important positions within the Indian National Congress party.
People
Abhishek + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abhishek 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
Abhishek: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abhishek?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 744 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abhishek 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 460,691 US residents.
Is Abhishek a common name?
We classify Abhishek as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 758 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abhishek most popular?
The single biggest year for Abhishek was 2000, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abhishek is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abhishek in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,736 people with the name Abhishek, or 1.90 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,580 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 Abhishek 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 Abhishek?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abhishek appears almost entirely male. Of the 5,747 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Abhishek?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abhishek is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Black (0.6%). 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 Abhishek most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Abhishek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.0% (5,508 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 Abhishek in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abhishek a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abhishek 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 Abhishek still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abhishek 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 Abhishek 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 Abhishek?
See how many people share the name Abhishek on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.