Nilesh
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "blue lotus".
Name Census estimates that about 169 living Americans carry the first name Nilesh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nilesh today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nilesh births was 1982 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nilesh. 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 Nilesh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
169
~ 1 in 2,028,132 Americans
Peak year
1982
14 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,459
Tracked since 1966
Census
Nilesh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,120 people with the first name Nilesh, which placed it at #7,252 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
#7,252
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,120 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nilesh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilesh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Nilesh 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 Nilesh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.1% · 2,058
- White1.7% · 35
- Two or more races0.6% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
- Black or African American0.2% · 4
Popularity
Nilesh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nilesh from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 73 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nilesh 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 Nilesh 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 Nilesh
Nilesh is a Hindu masculine given name of Sanskrit origin. It is derived from the Sanskrit words "nila" meaning "blue" and "isha" meaning "lord". The name essentially translates to "lord of the blue" or "blue lord".
The earliest recorded use of the name can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures from the Indian subcontinent, where it was often used to refer to the blue-skinned Hindu deity Lord Krishna or Lord Vishnu in their various avatars and manifestations.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Nilesh was a 7th-century Hindu philosopher and religious scholar from the region of modern-day Maharashtra in India. He is credited with writing several influential treatises on Vedanta and Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
In the 11th century, there was a prominent Hindu king named Nilesh who ruled over parts of central India. He was known for his patronage of the arts and literature, as well as his military campaigns against neighboring kingdoms.
During the 16th century, a Hindu monk and spiritual leader named Nilesh gained a significant following in the region of Bengal. He is said to have played an important role in spreading the teachings of the Bhakti movement, which emphasized devotion and love for the divine.
In more recent times, one of the most notable figures to bear the name Nilesh was an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary named Nilesh Chandra Bose (1888-1924). He was a close associate of Subhash Chandra Bose and played an active role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule.
Another famous Nilesh was the Indian cricketer Nilesh Kulkarni (born 1974), who represented India in both Test and One Day International matches during the 1990s and early 2000s. He was a left-arm spinner and is remembered for his impressive performances against Pakistan and Australia.
People
Nilesh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nilesh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nilesh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nilesh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 169 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nilesh 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 2,028,132 US residents.
Is Nilesh a common name?
We classify Nilesh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 178 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nilesh most popular?
The single biggest year for Nilesh was 1982, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nilesh is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nilesh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,120 people with the name Nilesh, or 0.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,252 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 Nilesh 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 Nilesh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nilesh appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,124 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Nilesh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilesh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Nilesh most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nilesh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.1% (2,058 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 Nilesh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nilesh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nilesh 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 Nilesh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nilesh 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 Nilesh 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 Nilesh?
See how many Americans are named Nilesh on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.