Anta
Of Arabic origin, the feminine name meaning "you" or "thou".
Name Census estimates that about 76 living Americans carry the first name Anta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anta today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anta births was 2015 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anta. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Anta. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
76
~ 1 in 4,509,926 Americans
Peak year
2015
10 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,589
Tracked since 2000
Census
Anta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 280 people with the first name Anta, which placed it at #30,870 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
#30,870
National first-name rank
People counted
280
280 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anta is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.9%). 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 Anta 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 Anta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.1% · 188
- White17.5% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.9% · 25
- Two or more races3.2% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3
Popularity
Anta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anta from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 28 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
Anta 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 Anta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anta
The name Anta has its roots in ancient Sanskrit, the classical language of India. It is believed to have originated around the 1st millennium BCE, during the Vedic period. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "anta," which means "end" or "boundary." This suggests that it may have been used to signify someone who lived on the outskirts or boundaries of a settlement or region.
In Hindu mythology, there is a reference to a character named Anta in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics. However, the details surrounding this character are scarce, and it is unclear if there is a direct connection to the name's origins.
The earliest recorded use of the name Anta can be traced back to ancient inscriptions and manuscripts found in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. One notable example is the Anta-Giri, a historical site located in the state of Karnataka, which dates back to the 6th century CE. This site contains inscriptions that mention individuals with the name Anta.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Anta. One of the earliest was Anta Bhatta, a Sanskrit scholar and grammarian who lived in the 8th century CE. He is known for his work on the commentary of Patanjali's Mahabhasya, a foundational text in the study of Sanskrit grammar.
Another prominent figure was Anta Krishnaiah, an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived from 1885 to 1960. He played a significant role in the Indian independence movement and worked tirelessly to promote education and social welfare in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
In the field of literature, Anta Gaura was a well-known Bengali poet and writer who lived in the 16th century CE. He is celebrated for his contributions to the Vaishnava literary tradition and his devotional works dedicated to Lord Krishna.
Moving to more recent times, Anta Prasad was an Indian politician and social activist who served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, responsible for drafting the nation's constitution. He lived from 1892 to 1966 and was a prominent figure in the struggle for India's independence.
Finally, Anta Talesara is a contemporary Indian classical dancer and choreographer who has made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of the Kathak dance form. Born in 1965, she has received numerous awards and accolades for her artistic achievements.
People
Anta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anta 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
Anta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 76 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anta 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 4,509,926 US residents.
Is Anta a common name?
We classify Anta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 77 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anta most popular?
The single biggest year for Anta was 2015, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anta is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 280 people with the name Anta, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,870 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 Anta 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 Anta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anta leans strongly female. 263 people counted with this name were female (92.3%), compared with 22 male bearers (7.7%). 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 Anta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anta is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.9%). 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 Anta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Anta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (188 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 Anta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anta in the SSA data are female. 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 Anta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anta 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 Anta 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 share the name Anta?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.