Megha
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "cloud".
Name Census estimates that about 1,152 living Americans carry the first name Megha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Megha today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Megha births was 2001 (75 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Megha. 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 Megha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 297,530 Americans
Peak year
2001
75 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,537
Tracked since 1978
Census
Megha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,865 people with the first name Megha, which placed it at #5,807 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
#5,807
National first-name rank
People counted
2.9K
2,865 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Megha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Megha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Black (0.7%). 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 Megha 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 Megha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.5% · 2,735
- White2.6% · 75
- Black or African American0.7% · 20
- Two or more races0.7% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
Popularity
Megha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Megha 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 426 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
Megha 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 Megha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meghas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the most babies named Megha, while Washington, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Megha
The name Megha originates from Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "megha," which means "cloud" or "rain." The name is widely used in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, including India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
In Hindu mythology, Megha is one of the names associated with the god Indra, the king of the devas (gods) and the lord of rain and thunderstorms. The name is also mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, which are among the most significant religious and cultural texts of Hinduism.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Megha can be found in the Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism. The Rigveda, composed around 1500-1200 BCE, contains hymns praising the gods and addressing various aspects of life, including nature and natural phenomena.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Megha. One of the most famous was Megha Thera (circa 3rd century BCE), a Buddhist monk and an arahant (enlightened being) who lived during the time of the Buddha. He is known for his teachings and contributions to Buddhist literature.
Another prominent figure with the name Megha was Megha Duta (circa 6th century CE), a Sanskrit poet and playwright from ancient India. He is best known for his work "Meghaduta," a lyrical poem that describes the journey of a yaksha (a nature spirit) who is sent as a messenger to his wife in the Himalayan mountains.
In more recent times, Megha Akash (born 1995) is an Indian actress who has appeared in several Tamil and Telugu films. Megha Ramaswamy (born 1982) is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer known for her contributions to the Bharatanatyam dance form.
Megha Ganne (born 2003) is an American amateur golfer who gained recognition for her impressive performance at the 2021 U.S. Women's Open, where she finished as the low amateur at the age of 17.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Megha throughout history, highlighting its cultural and historical significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Megha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Megha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Megha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Megha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,152 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Megha 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 297,530 US residents.
Is Megha a common name?
We classify Megha as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,179 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Megha most popular?
The single biggest year for Megha was 2001, when 75 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Megha is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Megha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,865 people with the name Megha, or 0.95 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,807 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 Megha 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 Megha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Megha leans strongly female. 2,825 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 36 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Megha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Megha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Black (0.7%). 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 Megha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Megha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (2,735 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 Megha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Megha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Megha 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 Megha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Megha 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 Megha 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 Megha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.