Dhilan
A masculine name of Indian origin meaning "innocent and peaceful".
Name Census estimates that about 344 living Americans carry the first name Dhilan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dhilan today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dhilan births was 2015 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dhilan. 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 Dhilan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
344
~ 1 in 996,379 Americans
Peak year
2015
31 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,182
Tracked since 2000
Census
Dhilan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 300 people with the first name Dhilan, which placed it at #29,484 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
#29,484
National first-name rank
People counted
300
300 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
68.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dhilan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dhilan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (18.7%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Dhilan 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 Dhilan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander68.3% · 205
- Two or more races18.7% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 24
- White4.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Dhilan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dhilan 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 199 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dhilan 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 Dhilan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dhilans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dhilan
The name Dhilan is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "dhili," which means "patient" or "calm." The name is thought to have been used in ancient India as early as the 5th century BCE.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Dhilan can be found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where it is said to have been the name of a sage or rishi who was known for his patience and wisdom. In the epic, Dhilan is described as a man of great spiritual knowledge and a follower of the path of non-violence and compassion.
During the medieval period, the name Dhilan was popular among Hindu communities in parts of South India, particularly in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It was often given to boys as a reminder of the virtues of patience and calmness, which were highly valued in Hindu philosophy.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Dhilan. One such figure was Dhilan Ranasinghe (1925-2002), a Sri Lankan novelist and playwright who was known for his works that explored the complexities of human relationships and the social and political issues of his time.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Dhilan Gnanapragasam (1932-2020), a Sri Lankan Tamil writer and academic who made significant contributions to the study of Tamil literature and culture. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, one of India's highest literary honors, in 1998.
In the 20th century, the name Dhilan also gained popularity among the Indian diaspora communities around the world. One notable example is Dhilan Chandrasena (born 1983), an Australian cricketer of Sri Lankan descent who played for the Australian national cricket team.
Another individual worth mentioning is Dhilan Prem Krishnan (born 1981), a British-Indian actor and writer who has appeared in several television shows and films in both the UK and India. He is known for his work in exploring themes of identity and cultural diversity in his creative projects.
While the name Dhilan has its roots in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu traditions, it has transcended cultural boundaries and is now found among various communities around the world, carrying with it the essence of patience, calmness, and wisdom.
People
Dhilan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dhilan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dhilan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dhilan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 344 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dhilan 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 996,379 US residents.
Is Dhilan a common name?
We classify Dhilan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 347 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dhilan most popular?
The single biggest year for Dhilan was 2015, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dhilan is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dhilan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 300 people with the name Dhilan, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,484 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 Dhilan 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 Dhilan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dhilan appears almost entirely male. Of the 300 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Dhilan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dhilan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 68.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (18.7%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Dhilan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Dhilan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.3% (205 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 Dhilan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dhilan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dhilan 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 Dhilan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dhilan 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 Dhilan 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 Dhilan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.