Anant
An Indian masculine name meaning "Infinite" or "Without End".
Name Census estimates that about 380 living Americans carry the first name Anant. It is a predominantly male name (94.3% of registrations). The average person named Anant today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anant births was 2023 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anant. 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 Anant with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
380
~ 1 in 901,985 Americans
Peak year
2023
31 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,561
Tracked since 1973
Census
Anant in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,039 people with the first name Anant, which placed it at #12,107 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
#12,107
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,039 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anant
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anant is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.6%. The next largest groups are White (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Anant 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 Anant at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.6% · 983
- White2.1% · 22
- Two or more races1.6% · 17
- Black or African American0.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Anant
Anant leans heavily male at 94.3% of total registrations, but 22 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Anant as a male name
- Ranked #4,561 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (22 births)
Anant as a female name
- Ranked #10,304 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anant leans strongly male. 1,011 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 31 female bearers (3.0%).
Popularity
Anant: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anant from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 100 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anant 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 Anant during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anants live
Origin
Meaning and history of Anant
The name Anant has its origins in the Sanskrit language and Hindu culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "ananta," which means "infinite," "endless," or "eternal." The name is closely associated with Lord Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism, who is often depicted resting on the coiled body of the infinite serpent, Ananta Shesha.
The name Anant is mentioned in various Hindu scriptures and texts, including the Vedas, Puranas, and Upanishads. In the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most revered Hindu scriptures, Lord Krishna refers to himself as "Anantavijaya," meaning "the one with infinite victories." This reference highlights the name's association with divinity, eternity, and triumph.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Anant can be found in the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic that dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In this epic, Ananta is mentioned as the king of the Naga race, a semi-divine serpent-like beings who are believed to have lived in the subterranean realms.
Throughout history, the name Anant has been borne by several notable individuals. In the 7th century CE, Anantavarman was a powerful ruler of the Maukhari dynasty in northern India. He was known for his patronage of art, architecture, and literature. Another prominent figure was Anant Kandivli, a 13th-century Marathi poet and saint revered for his devotional works.
During the Mughal era in India, Anant Rao Sinde was a prominent military commander who fought against the Maratha Empire in the 18th century. In the field of mathematics, Anant Narayan Shastri was an Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the early 19th century and made significant contributions to the study of trigonometry and calculus.
In more recent times, Anant Singh was an Indian independence activist and freedom fighter who participated in the non-violent resistance movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. He was imprisoned multiple times for his involvement in the struggle against British colonial rule.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Anant throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage associated with this name.
People
Anant + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anant 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
Anant: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anant?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 380 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anant 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 901,985 US residents.
Is Anant a common name?
We classify Anant as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 386 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anant most popular?
The single biggest year for Anant was 2023, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anant is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anant in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,039 people with the name Anant, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,107 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 Anant 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 Anant?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anant leans strongly male. 1,011 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 31 female bearers (3.0%). 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 Anant?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anant is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.6%. The next largest groups are White (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Anant most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Anant in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (983 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 Anant in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anant a male name?
Yes, 94.3% of people registered as Anant 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 Anant still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anant 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 Anant 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 have Anant as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.