Lakshmi
A feminine name of Hindu origin meaning divine generosity and good fortune.
Name Census estimates that about 840 living Americans carry the first name Lakshmi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lakshmi today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lakshmi births was 2011 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lakshmi. 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 Lakshmi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
840
~ 1 in 408,041 Americans
Peak year
2011
56 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,949
Tracked since 1971
Census
Lakshmi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,891 people with the first name Lakshmi, which placed it at #3,512 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
#3,512
National first-name rank
People counted
5.9K
5,891 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lakshmi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lakshmi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Lakshmi 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 Lakshmi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.4% · 5,502
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 123
- Two or more races1.9% · 110
- White1.7% · 103
- Black or African American0.7% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 11
Popularity
Lakshmi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lakshmi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 303 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lakshmi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lakshmi 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 Lakshmi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lakshmis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Lakshmi, while Illinois, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lakshmi
The name Lakshmi originates from the Sanskrit language of ancient India, dating back to around the 3rd century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit root words "laksh" meaning "to perceive or observe" and "mi" meaning "sacred".
In Hindu mythology, Lakshmi is the name of the goddess of wealth, prosperity, beauty, and good fortune. She is one of the most revered deities in Hinduism and is often depicted as a beautiful woman seated on a lotus flower, accompanied by elephants and showering coins or gems.
The earliest known reference to the name Lakshmi can be found in the sacred Hindu texts of the Vedas, particularly the Rig Veda, which dates back to around 1500 BCE. She is also prominently featured in the Puranas, a collection of ancient Hindu scriptures, and the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lakshmi was an Indian mathematician and astronomer from the 5th century CE named Lakshmīdāsa. She is credited with writing an influential treatise on mathematics and astronomy called the Laghupātiganita.
Another notable historical figure named Lakshmi was Lakshmi Bai, the Rani (Queen) of Jhansi, who lived from 1828 to 1858. She was a prominent leader during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company and is revered as a symbol of courage and patriotism in India.
In the 12th century, the Indian philosopher and logician Lakshmi Devi wrote several influential works on Nyaya, one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy. Her most famous work, the Syādvādamaṇjarī, is a treatise on the philosophical concept of "syādvāda" or "perhaps-ism".
The name Lakshmi was also borne by Lakshmi Sahgal, an Indian revolutionary and officer in the Indian National Army, who fought against the British during World War II. She lived from 1914 to 2012 and was a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement.
In the realm of literature, Lakshmi Narain Lal was a renowned Indian author and playwright from the late 19th and early 20th century. He is best known for his novels and plays that explored themes of social reform and portrayed the struggles of women in Indian society.
People
Lakshmi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lakshmi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lakshmi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lakshmi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 840 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lakshmi 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 408,041 US residents.
Is Lakshmi a common name?
We classify Lakshmi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 859 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lakshmi most popular?
The single biggest year for Lakshmi was 2011, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lakshmi is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lakshmi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,891 people with the name Lakshmi, or 1.95 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,512 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 Lakshmi 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 Lakshmi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lakshmi leans strongly female. 5,451 people counted with this name were female (92.5%), compared with 439 male bearers (7.5%). 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 Lakshmi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lakshmi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Lakshmi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Lakshmi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (5,502 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 Lakshmi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lakshmi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lakshmi 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 Lakshmi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lakshmi 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 Lakshmi 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 are called Lakshmi?
Find out how many people share the name Lakshmi on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.