Pasha
A Russian diminutive variant of the name Paul or Pavel.
Name Census estimates that about 857 living Americans carry the first name Pasha. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 55.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Pasha today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pasha births was 1991 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pasha. 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 Pasha with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Pasha was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
857
~ 1 in 399,947 Americans
Peak year
1991
27 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,771
Tracked since 1964
Census
Pasha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,027 people with the first name Pasha, which placed it at #12,202 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
#12,202
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,027 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pasha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pasha is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Black (25.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Pasha 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 Pasha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 569
- Black or African American25.5% · 262
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 74
- Two or more races7.2% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Pasha
Pasha is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 895 total registrations, 397 (44.4%) were male and 498 (55.6%) were female.
Pasha as a male name
- Ranked #8,771 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (19 births)
Pasha as a female name
- Ranked #18,208 in 2016
- 5 female births in 2016
- Peak: 1974 (24 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Pasha on both sides of the split. Of the 1,027 people counted with this name, 508 were male (49.5%) and 519 were female (50.5%).
Popularity
Pasha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pasha from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 177 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pasha 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 Pasha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pashas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pasha
The name Pasha has its origins in the Persian language, and it is derived from the word "pādshāh," which means "king" or "sovereign." The name's roots can be traced back to ancient Persia, where it was used as a title for rulers and prominent figures.
In the context of the Ottoman Empire, the title Pasha was bestowed upon high-ranking military and administrative officials. During the height of the Ottoman Empire, which spanned from the 14th to the early 20th century, the term Pasha held significant importance and was a mark of prestige and authority.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Pasha can be found in the 16th century, when Pasha Sokollu, also known as Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1565 to 1579. He played a pivotal role in the expansion and consolidation of Ottoman power during his tenure.
Another notable figure bearing the name Pasha was Mehmet Emin Pasha, also known as Emin Pasha, who lived from 1840 to 1892. He was a German-born explorer and governor of the Equatorial Province in modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo during the late 19th century.
In the 18th century, Ali Pasha, also known as the Lion of Ioannina, was a renowned Ottoman Albanian ruler who governed the western part of the Ottoman Empire from 1788 to 1822. His exploits and defiance against the Ottoman Sultan have been immortalized in literature and folklore.
In the realm of art and literature, the name Pasha is associated with the famous Russian writer and playwright Alexander Griboyedov, whose full name was Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov Pasha (1795-1829). His play "Woe from Wit" is considered a masterpiece of Russian literature.
Another notable figure was Mustafa Kemal Pasha, better known as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. He played a pivotal role in the Turkish War of Independence and was instrumental in the establishment of the modern Turkish state.
While the name Pasha has its roots in the Persian and Ottoman cultures, it has since transcended its historical origins and is now used as a given name across various cultures and regions around the world.
People
Pasha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pasha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pasha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pasha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 857 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pasha 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 399,947 US residents.
Is Pasha a common name?
We classify Pasha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 895 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pasha most popular?
The single biggest year for Pasha was 1991, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pasha is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pasha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,027 people with the name Pasha, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,202 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 Pasha 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 Pasha?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Pasha on both sides of the split. Of the 1,027 people counted with this name, 508 were male (49.5%) and 519 were female (50.5%). 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 Pasha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pasha is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Black (25.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Pasha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pasha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (569 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 Pasha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pasha a female name?
Yes, 55.6% of people registered as Pasha 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 Pasha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pasha 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 Pasha 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 named Pasha?
Find out how many Americans are named Pasha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.