Divya
Of Sanskrit origin meaning divine, celestial, or supreme.
Name Census estimates that about 2,608 living Americans carry the first name Divya. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Divya today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Divya births was 2001 (113 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Divya. 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 Divya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 131,424 Americans
Peak year
2001
113 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2013 SSA rank
#5,651
Tracked since 1971
Census
Divya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,071 people with the first name Divya, which placed it at #2,856 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
#2,856
National first-name rank
People counted
8.1K
8,071 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Divya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Divya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Divya 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 Divya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.2% · 7,442
- White2.7% · 220
- Two or more races2.3% · 189
- Black or African American1.5% · 121
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 78
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Divya
Out of the 2,662 babies given the name Divya since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Divya as a male name
- Ranked #11,097 in 2013
- 6 male births in 2013
- Peak: 2013 (6 births)
Divya as a female name
- Ranked #5,651 in 2024
- 22 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (113 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Divya leans strongly female. 7,892 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 174 male bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Divya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Divya 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 991 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
Divya 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 Divya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Divyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Divya, while Minnesota, Connecticut, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 83 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Divya
The name Divya is derived from the Sanskrit word 'divya', which means 'divine', 'heavenly', or 'transcendent'. The name has its roots in ancient Indian culture and can be traced back to the Vedic period, which lasted from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
Divya is a popular Hindu name, and it is believed to have been used in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads. These texts were written in Sanskrit, and the name Divya was likely used to refer to divine beings or to describe something of celestial or transcendental nature.
The earliest recorded example of the name Divya can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In the Mahabharata, the name Divya is mentioned in reference to a celestial being.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Divya. One of the earliest recorded figures was Divya Siddha, a Tamil Siddhar (a spiritual master) who lived in the 8th century CE. Divya Siddha was renowned for her contributions to the field of Tamil literature and philosophy.
Another notable figure was Divya Bharati (1942-1993), an Indian poet and scholar who wrote extensively in Tamil and English. Her works often explored themes of feminism, social justice, and spirituality.
In the field of classical Indian dance, Divya Unni (born in 1978) is a renowned Mohiniyattam dancer and choreographer. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of this traditional dance form.
Divya Dutta (born in 1977) is a celebrated Indian actress who has appeared in numerous Bollywood films and television shows. She is known for her versatile acting abilities and has won several awards for her performances.
Divya Kakran (born in 1993) is an Indian wrestler who has represented India at various international competitions, including the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. She has won numerous medals and has brought honor to her country through her athletic achievements.
People
Divya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Divya 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
Divya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Divya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,608 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Divya 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 131,424 US residents.
Is Divya a common name?
We classify Divya as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,662 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Divya most popular?
The single biggest year for Divya was 2001, when 113 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Divya is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Divya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,071 people with the name Divya, or 2.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,856 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 Divya 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 Divya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Divya leans strongly female. 7,892 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 174 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Divya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Divya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Divya most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Divya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (7,442 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 Divya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Divya a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Divya 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 Divya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Divya 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 Divya 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 common is the name Divya?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Divya at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.