Rani
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "queen" or "princess".
Name Census estimates that about 1,969 living Americans carry the first name Rani. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Rani today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rani births was 1979 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rani. 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 Rani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 174,075 Americans
Peak year
1979
50 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2022 SSA rank
#5,099
Tracked since 1946
Census
Rani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,385 people with the first name Rani, which placed it at #5,160 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
#5,160
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,385 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
46.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 46.1%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Rani 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 Rani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander46.1% · 1,559
- White35.6% · 1,205
- Two or more races7.3% · 248
- Black or African American6.3% · 213
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 126
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Rani
Rani leans heavily female at 89.7% of total registrations, but 215 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rani as a male name
- Ranked #10,603 in 2022
- 7 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2014 (14 births)
Rani as a female name
- Ranked #5,099 in 2024
- 26 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1971 (44 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rani leans strongly female. 2,848 people counted with this name were female (84.2%), compared with 534 male bearers (15.8%).
Popularity
Rani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rani from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 384 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Rani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rani 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 Rani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ranis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Rani, while Louisiana, Illinois, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rani
Rani is a given name with origins tracing back to the Sanskrit language and ancient Indian culture. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "Rani", which translates to "queen" or "princess". It has been used as a female name in various parts of the Indian subcontinent for centuries.
The name Rani can be found in several ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, including the Vedas and the Puranas. In these texts, the name is often associated with goddesses, queens, and other powerful female figures revered in Hinduism.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rani can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic poem dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In this epic, Rani is mentioned as the name of a princess who played a significant role in the events surrounding the epic battle of Kurukshetra.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women who bore the name Rani. One of the most famous was Rani Lakshmibai (1828-1858), the Queen of Jhansi, who led the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company. Her bravery and leadership during the rebellion have made her an iconic figure in Indian history.
Another notable Rani was Rani Durgavati (1524-1564), the ruler of the Gondwana kingdom in central India. She was known for her military prowess and her resistance against the Mughal Empire. Her heroic exploits have been celebrated in numerous folk tales and literary works.
In the 18th century, Rani Bhagmati (1705-1784) was a renowned Rajput queen who ruled the princely state of Sirmoor (now part of Himachal Pradesh, India). She was respected for her administrative skills and her efforts to promote education and cultural traditions.
Another prominent figure was Rani Avantibai (1835-1858), the Queen of Ramgarh, who played a crucial role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. She fought against the British forces and is remembered for her courage and sacrifice.
Rani Rashmoni (1793-1861) was a renowned philanthropist and social reformer from Bengal, India. She was instrumental in establishing the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, one of the most famous Hindu temples in Kolkata, and supported various social causes, including the abolition of the practice of Sati (widow burning).
These are just a few examples of the many notable women throughout history who have borne the name Rani, reflecting its association with strength, leadership, and cultural significance in the Indian subcontinent.
People
Rani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,969 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rani 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 174,075 US residents.
Is Rani a common name?
We classify Rani as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,094 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rani most popular?
The single biggest year for Rani was 1979, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rani is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,385 people with the name Rani, or 1.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,160 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 Rani 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 Rani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rani leans strongly female. 2,848 people counted with this name were female (84.2%), compared with 534 male bearers (15.8%). 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 Rani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 46.1%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Rani most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Rani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.1% (1,559 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 Rani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rani a female name?
Yes, 89.7% of people registered as Rani 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 Rani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rani 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 Rani 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 share the name Rani?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.