Ashwin
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "the second half of the year".
Name Census estimates that about 2,143 living Americans carry the first name Ashwin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ashwin today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashwin births was 2001 (86 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashwin. 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 Ashwin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 159,941 Americans
Peak year
2001
86 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,449
Tracked since 1976
Census
Ashwin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,115 people with the first name Ashwin, which placed it at #4,500 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
#4,500
National first-name rank
People counted
4.1K
4,115 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ashwin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashwin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and White (3.5%). 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 Ashwin 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 Ashwin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.3% · 3,634
- Two or more races5.1% · 209
- White3.5% · 146
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 67
- Black or African American1.3% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
Popularity
Ashwin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashwin from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 742 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
Ashwin 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 Ashwin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ashwins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Texas, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Ashwin, while Washington, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 70 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashwin
The name Ashwin has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that developed in the Indian subcontinent. The name can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was used to refer to the eighth month of the Hindu calendar, known as Ashwin or Ashvina.
The name Ashwin is derived from the Sanskrit word "Ashva," meaning horse. In Hindu mythology, the Ashvins were twin horse-headed deities associated with healing, health, and fertility. They were often invoked in religious rituals and ceremonies, especially those related to the onset of the autumn season and the harvest festival of Navratri.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Ashwin can be found in the Rigveda, one of the four sacred canonical texts of Hinduism, composed between 1500 and 1000 BCE. In the Rigveda, the Ashvins are celebrated as divine physicians and protectors of humanity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ashwin. One of the most famous was Ashwin Batish (1939-2020), an Indian scientist and inventor who made significant contributions to the field of renewable energy. He is credited with developing a cost-effective and efficient solar water heating system, which was widely adopted across India.
Another prominent figure was Ashwin Sanghi (born 1969), an Indian author and entrepreneur known for his bestselling novels that blend historical fiction with elements of mythology and conspiracy theories. His works, such as "The Rozabal Line" and "The Krishna Key," have gained widespread popularity and critical acclaim.
In the realm of sports, Ashwin Ravichandran (born 1986) is a renowned Indian cricketer who has represented the national team in all three formats of the game. He is particularly known for his outstanding bowling performances and is considered one of the finest off-spin bowlers in modern cricket.
Ashwin Achal (born 1972) is an Indian-American filmmaker and visual artist whose work explores themes of identity, cultural displacement, and the immigrant experience. He has directed several critically acclaimed films, including "Some Cities" and "An Insignificant Man."
Lastly, Ashwin Naik (born 1972) is an Indian entrepreneur and the co-founder of Vaatsalya Healthcare, a leading healthcare solutions provider in India. He has been recognized for his contributions to the healthcare sector and his efforts in making quality healthcare accessible to underserved communities.
People
Ashwin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashwin 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
Ashwin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashwin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashwin 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 159,941 US residents.
Is Ashwin a common name?
We classify Ashwin as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,177 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashwin most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashwin was 2001, when 86 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashwin is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ashwin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,115 people with the name Ashwin, or 1.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,500 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 Ashwin 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 Ashwin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ashwin appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,120 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Ashwin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashwin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and White (3.5%). 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 Ashwin most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ashwin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (3,634 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 Ashwin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashwin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashwin 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 Ashwin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashwin 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 Ashwin 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 Ashwin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.