Ravi
An Indian masculine name derived from Sanskrit meaning "the sun".
Name Census estimates that about 3,346 living Americans carry the first name Ravi. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ravi today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ravi births was 2024 (166 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ravi. 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 Ravi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 102,437 Americans
Peak year
2024
166 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,216
Tracked since 1963
Census
Ravi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,577 people with the first name Ravi, which placed it at #2,537 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
#2,537
National first-name rank
People counted
9.6K
9,577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ravi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ravi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and White (4.6%). 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 Ravi 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 Ravi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.2% · 8,062
- Two or more races6.3% · 603
- White4.6% · 437
- Black or African American2.8% · 271
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 153
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 51
Gender
Gender distribution for Ravi
Out of the 3,449 babies given the name Ravi since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Ravi as a male name
- Ranked #1,216 in 2024
- 166 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (166 births)
Ravi as a female name
- Ranked #7,891 in 1968
- 5 female births in 1968
- Peak: 1968 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ravi leans strongly male. 9,433 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 144 female bearers (1.5%).
Popularity
Ravi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ravi from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 673 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ravi 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 Ravi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ravis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Ravi, while Minnesota, Michigan, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 106 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ravi
The name Ravi has its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages in the world. It is believed to have originated in ancient India, with references dating back to the 3rd century BCE. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "ravi," which means "sun."
In Hindu mythology, Ravi is one of the names used to refer to the sun god, Surya. The name is mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, including the Vedas and the Puranas. The Vedas, which are considered the oldest scriptures in Hinduism, contain numerous hymns and prayers dedicated to Surya, or Ravi, the sun god.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ravi can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Ravi is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandavas in the great war of Kurukshetra.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ravi. One of the most famous is Ravi Shankar (1920-2012), the renowned Indian sitar player and composer who popularized Indian classical music worldwide. Another notable Ravi was Ravi Varma (1848-1906), a celebrated Indian painter who is considered a pioneer in the field of modern Indian art.
Other historical figures with the name Ravi include Ravi Teja (circa 6th century CE), a Telugu poet and playwright from South India, and Ravi Das (1450-1520), a renowned Hindu saint and poet from the Bhakti movement in North India. Additionally, Ravi Naik (1856-1901) was an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British rule.
The name Ravi has maintained its popularity across various regions of India and among the Hindu diaspora around the world. Its association with the sun, a revered celestial body in Hindu mythology, has contributed to its enduring appeal and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ravi
People
Ravi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ravi 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
Ravi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ravi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,346 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ravi 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 102,437 US residents.
Is Ravi a common name?
We classify Ravi as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,449 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ravi most popular?
The single biggest year for Ravi was 2024, when 166 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ravi is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ravi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,577 people with the name Ravi, or 3.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,537 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 Ravi 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 Ravi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ravi leans strongly male. 9,433 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 144 female bearers (1.5%). 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 Ravi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ravi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and White (4.6%). 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 Ravi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ravi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (8,062 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 Ravi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ravi a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Ravi 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 Ravi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ravi 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 Ravi 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 Americans are named Ravi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.