Mihir
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning 'sun' or 'sun rays'.
Name Census estimates that about 1,436 living Americans carry the first name Mihir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mihir today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mihir births was 2002 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mihir. 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 Mihir with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 238,687 Americans
Peak year
2002
82 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,736
Tracked since 1976
Census
Mihir in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,392 people with the first name Mihir, which placed it at #6,644 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
#6,644
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,392 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mihir
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mihir is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Mihir 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 Mihir at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.8% · 2,267
- White2.7% · 64
- Two or more races1.3% · 32
- Black or African American0.5% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Mihir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mihir 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 637 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
Mihir 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 Mihir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mihirs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Mihir, while Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mihir
The name Mihir has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest languages in the world, dating back to around the 2nd millennium BCE. Mihir is derived from the Sanskrit word "Mihira," which means "sun" or "sun-god." This name was likely given to individuals with the hope that they would possess the strength, warmth, and life-giving qualities associated with the sun.
In ancient Hindu mythology, Mihira or Mitra was the name given to the Sun God, who was revered as the bringer of light, warmth, and fertility. The name appears in various Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, which are among the oldest religious texts in the world, dating back to around 1500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mihir can be found in the Rigveda, which is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns composed around 1500-1200 BCE. In the Rigveda, there are several hymns dedicated to the Sun God, Mitra or Mihira, highlighting the importance of this deity in ancient Hindu culture.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mihir. One of the most famous was Mihir Bhoja, a renowned Indian king and scholar who ruled the Malwa region of central India in the 11th century CE. He was known for his patronage of the arts, literature, and astronomy, and his court was a center of learning and cultural exchange.
Another significant figure was Mihir Sen, a 12th-century Bengali poet and scholar who is credited with writing the first Bengali translation of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. His work played a crucial role in the development of Bengali literature and the preservation of the region's cultural heritage.
In the realm of astronomy, Mihir Chand Mehta, an Indian astronomer who lived in the 17th century, made significant contributions to the study of celestial bodies and the measurement of time. He is particularly renowned for his work on the Jantar Mantar, a collection of architectural astronomical instruments built in several cities across India.
Mihir Kanti Bose, a 19th-century Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter, played a pivotal role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. He was a member of the Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary organization dedicated to achieving India's independence through armed struggle.
Finally, Mihir Desai, an Indian legal scholar and human rights activist, has made significant contributions to the field of international law and the promotion of human rights. He has served as a Special Rapporteur for the United Nations and has written extensively on issues related to human rights, international law, and sustainable development.
People
Mihir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mihir 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
Mihir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mihir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,436 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mihir 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 238,687 US residents.
Is Mihir a common name?
We classify Mihir as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,456 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mihir most popular?
The single biggest year for Mihir was 2002, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mihir 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 Mihir in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,392 people with the name Mihir, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,644 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 Mihir 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 Mihir?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mihir appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,395 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Mihir?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mihir is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Mihir most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mihir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (2,267 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 Mihir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mihir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mihir 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 Mihir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mihir 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 Mihir 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 have the name Mihir?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Mihir, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.