Resha
A feminine name of Slavic origin meaning "eloquent" or "talkative".
Name Census estimates that about 238 living Americans carry the first name Resha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Resha today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Resha births was 1979 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Resha. 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 Resha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
238
~ 1 in 1,440,144 Americans
Peak year
1979
18 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1998 SSA rank
#16,017
Tracked since 1966
Census
Resha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 412 people with the first name Resha, which placed it at #23,670 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
#23,670
National first-name rank
People counted
412
412 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Resha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Resha is Black at 43.4%. The next largest groups are White (29.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.7%). 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 Resha 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 Resha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.4% · 179
- White29.4% · 121
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.7% · 77
- Two or more races3.9% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 8
Popularity
Resha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Resha from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 95 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Resha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Resha 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 Resha 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 Resha
The given name Resha is believed to have its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "rishi," which means "sage" or "seer." In Hindu mythology, rishis were revered as ancient sages who possessed profound spiritual wisdom and were considered divine messengers.
The name Resha likely emerged in the Indian subcontinent during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. This era saw the composition of the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and the rise of various philosophical and religious traditions that shaped Indian culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Resha can be found in the Mahabharata, a monumental Sanskrit epic that dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE. The epic mentions a character named Resha, who was a disciple of the sage Vyasa and played a role in the transmission of the Mahabharata's verses.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Resha. One prominent example is Resha Siddique (1923-1996), a renowned Pakistani writer and playwright who is considered a pioneer of modern Urdu drama. Her works, such as "Aadhi Baat" and "Khwabon ke Musafir," explored themes of social injustice and the struggles of women in Pakistani society.
Another person of historical significance with the name Resha is Resha Saab (1905-1974), an Indian freedom fighter and politician from the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was actively involved in the Indian independence movement and served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, which drafted the country's constitution.
In the realm of Indian classical music, Resha Srivastava (1919-2008) was a renowned Hindustani classical vocalist and a recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. She was widely acclaimed for her mastery of the Khayal and Thumri genres and made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Indian classical music.
The name Resha has also been associated with historical figures in other parts of the world. Resha Tullios (1878-1962) was a Greek painter and sculptor who gained recognition for her portraits and landscapes depicting scenes from her native island of Crete.
Finally, Resha Rughani (1942-2018) was a notable Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist. She founded and led several successful businesses in the United States and was actively involved in charitable initiatives, particularly those focused on education and women's empowerment.
People
Resha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Resha 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
Resha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Resha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Resha 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 1,440,144 US residents.
Is Resha a common name?
We classify Resha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 257 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Resha most popular?
The single biggest year for Resha was 1979, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Resha is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Resha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 412 people with the name Resha, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,670 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 Resha 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 Resha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Resha leans strongly female. 392 people counted with this name were female (94.9%), compared with 21 male bearers (5.1%). 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 Resha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Resha is Black at 43.4%. The next largest groups are White (29.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.7%). 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 Resha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Resha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.4% (179 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 Resha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Resha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Resha 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 Resha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Resha 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 Resha 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 Resha?
Find out how many Americans are named Resha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.