Dinesha
A feminine name of Hindu origin meaning "day-like" or "radiant one".
Name Census estimates that about 232 living Americans carry the first name Dinesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dinesha today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dinesha births was 1993 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dinesha. 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
232
~ 1 in 1,477,389 Americans
Peak year
1993
20 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2001 SSA rank
#14,020
Tracked since 1977
Census
Dinesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 249 people with the first name Dinesha, which placed it at #33,298 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
#33,298
National first-name rank
People counted
249
249 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dinesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dinesha is Black at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%) and White (2.8%). 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 Dinesha 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 Dinesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.3% · 200
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.4% · 26
- White2.8% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 5
- Two or more races2.0% · 5
Popularity
Dinesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dinesha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 128 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
Dinesha 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 Dinesha 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 Dinesha
The name Dinesha has its origins in the Indian subcontinent, specifically in the Sanskrit language. It is a feminine name that is derived from the Sanskrit word "dinesh," which means "leader" or "chief." The name can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was used to refer to deities and prominent figures.
One of the earliest known references to the name Dinesha can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Dinesha is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandavas in the great battle of Kurukshetra. This suggests that the name has been in use for centuries, dating back to at least the 4th century BCE.
Throughout the ages, several notable individuals have borne the name Dinesha. One of the most famous was Dinesha Devi, a Rajput princess who lived in the 16th century CE. She was renowned for her bravery and military skills, and played a significant role in defending her kingdom against invaders.
Another prominent figure named Dinesha was Dinesha Chauhan, a renowned poet and scholar who lived in the 12th century CE. She was celebrated for her literary works and her contributions to the field of Sanskrit literature.
In the modern era, one of the most well-known individuals with the name Dinesha is Dinesha Chandran, an Indian actress and model who has appeared in numerous Bollywood films and TV shows. She was born in 1984 and has received several accolades for her performances on the big screen.
Another notable Dinesha is Dinesha Karthik, an Indian cricketer who has represented the Indian national team in various formats of the game. He was born in 1985 and is widely regarded as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen in the world.
Lastly, Dinesha Patil is a renowned Indian social activist and environmentalist who has dedicated her life to the conservation of natural resources and the promotion of sustainable living. She was born in 1972 and has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work in this field.
People
Dinesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dinesha 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
Dinesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dinesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 232 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dinesha 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 1,477,389 US residents.
Is Dinesha a common name?
We classify Dinesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 243 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dinesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Dinesha was 1993, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dinesha 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 Dinesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 249 people with the name Dinesha, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,298 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 Dinesha 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 Dinesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dinesha leans strongly female. 238 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Dinesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dinesha is Black at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%) and White (2.8%). 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 Dinesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dinesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.3% (200 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 Dinesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dinesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dinesha 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 Dinesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dinesha 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 Dinesha 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 Americans are named Dinesha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.