Hemant
A masculine Hindu name meaning "cool breeze" or "golden."
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Hemant. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hemant today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hemant births was 1972 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hemant. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hemant. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1972
6 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2007 SSA rank
#13,048
Tracked since 1972
Census
Hemant in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,820 people with the first name Hemant, which placed it at #8,078 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
#8,078
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,820 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hemant
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hemant is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Hemant 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 Hemant at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.3% · 1,734
- White1.3% · 24
- Black or African American1.3% · 24
- Two or more races0.9% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 9
Popularity
Hemant: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hemant from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hemant 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 Hemant 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 Hemant
The name Hemant has its origins in the Sanskrit language, derived from the words 'hem' meaning gold and 'anta' meaning end, thus signifying 'the end of the golden season' or 'the end of autumn'. This name is predominantly found in the Indian subcontinent, specifically in regions where Sanskrit and its associated literary traditions held sway.
The earliest known reference to the name Hemant can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, where it is often used as a personification of the autumn season or as a poetic metaphor for the changing colors of nature during this time of the year. The name appears in works such as the Rigveda, one of the oldest extant texts in the world, dating back to around 1500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Hemant was Hemant Pandit, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived during the 12th century CE in the region of modern-day Bihar, India. His works, particularly his commentaries on ancient Sanskrit texts, have been widely studied and revered by scholars throughout the ages.
Another notable figure was Hemant Kumar Mukhopadhyay, a celebrated Indian singer, music director, and composer who lived from 1920 to 1989. His melodious voice and versatile repertoire spanning various genres of Indian music earned him the title of 'Nightingale of India'. His renditions of popular Bengali and Hindi songs have left an indelible mark on the Indian musical landscape.
In the realm of literature, Hemant Kanoria, born in 1938, is a prominent Indian businessman and author, known for his contributions to the preservation and promotion of Indian literature and culture. He has authored several books and has been a patron of various literary and cultural organizations.
Hemant Karkare, an Indian police officer who lived from 1954 to 2008, gained national recognition for his role in investigating high-profile terrorism cases in India. He was tragically killed during the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks while leading the security operations.
Lastly, Hemant Soren, born in 1975, is a prominent Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Jharkhand state. He has been instrumental in shaping the political landscape of the region and has advocated for the rights and welfare of the tribal communities.
People
Hemant + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hemant as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hemant: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hemant?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hemant 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Hemant a common name?
We classify Hemant as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hemant most popular?
The single biggest year for Hemant was 1972, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hemant 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 Hemant in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,820 people with the name Hemant, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,078 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 Hemant 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 Hemant?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hemant appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,827 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Hemant?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hemant is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Hemant most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hemant in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.3% (1,734 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 Hemant in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hemant a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hemant 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 Hemant still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hemant 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 Hemant 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 Hemant?
See how many Americans are named Hemant on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.