Arnisha
A feminine name of unknown origin possibly meaning "bird that rises in the morning."
Name Census estimates that about 293 living Americans carry the first name Arnisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arnisha today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arnisha births was 1995 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arnisha. 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.
People living today
293
~ 1 in 1,169,810 Americans
Peak year
1995
23 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2016 SSA rank
#16,537
Tracked since 1971
Census
Arnisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 303 people with the first name Arnisha, which placed it at #29,290 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
#29,290
National first-name rank
People counted
303
303 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arnisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arnisha is Black at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Arnisha 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 Arnisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.4% · 271
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 12
- Two or more races3.0% · 9
- White1.7% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Arnisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arnisha from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 142 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arnisha 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 Arnisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arnishas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Arnisha
The name Arnisha is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the combination of two Sanskrit words, "arni" meaning "wave" and "isha" meaning "lord" or "master." Therefore, the name Arnisha can be interpreted as "the lord of the waves" or "the master of the waves."
In Hindu mythology, there are references to the name Arnisha being associated with the deity Varuna, who is the lord of the oceans, rivers, and water bodies. Varuna is revered as one of the most important deities in the Vedic pantheon and is often depicted as a wise and powerful god who upholds cosmic order.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Arnisha can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, which date back to the 2nd millennium BCE. However, the name gained more prominence during the medieval period in India, particularly in the regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Arnisha was Arnisha Devi, a 10th-century Indian queen who ruled over the Chahamana dynasty in the present-day state of Rajasthan. She was renowned for her bravery, strategic acumen, and patronage of the arts and culture.
Another notable individual with the name Arnisha was Arnisha Suryavanshi, a 14th-century Indian scholar and poet from Gujarat. He was celebrated for his contributions to Sanskrit literature and his mastery of various poetic forms.
In the 16th century, Arnisha Bharati was a revered Hindu spiritual leader and philosopher who advocated for the principles of Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic school of Hindu philosophy. She had a significant influence on the spiritual and intellectual landscape of her time.
During the 17th century, Arnisha Devi was a prominent figure in the court of the Mughal Empire. She was a skilled musician and dancer, and her talent was highly regarded by the Mughal rulers, who often sought her performances.
In the 19th century, Arnisha Sinha was a renowned Indian social reformer and educator who dedicated her life to promoting women's education and empowerment. She established several schools and educational institutions for girls, challenging the prevailing societal norms of the time.
People
Arnisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arnisha 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
Arnisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arnisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 293 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arnisha 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 1,169,810 US residents.
Is Arnisha a common name?
We classify Arnisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 308 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arnisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Arnisha was 1995, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arnisha is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arnisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 303 people with the name Arnisha, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,290 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 Arnisha 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 Arnisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arnisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 298 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Arnisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arnisha is Black at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Arnisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Arnisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (271 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 Arnisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arnisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arnisha 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 Arnisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arnisha 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 Arnisha 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 Arnisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.