Vinayak
Lord of the Ganas (Hindu demi-gods) or remover of obstacles.
Name Census estimates that about 158 living Americans carry the first name Vinayak. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vinayak today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vinayak births was 2000 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vinayak. 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 Vinayak with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
158
~ 1 in 2,169,331 Americans
Peak year
2000
10 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,782
Tracked since 1989
Census
Vinayak in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 824 people with the first name Vinayak, which placed it at #14,328 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
#14,328
National first-name rank
People counted
824
824 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vinayak
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vinayak is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Vinayak 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 Vinayak at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.1% · 784
- White1.8% · 15
- Black or African American1.2% · 10
- Two or more races0.8% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Vinayak: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vinayak from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 62 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Vinayak remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vinayak 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 Vinayak during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vinayaks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vinayak
The name Vinayak is of Hindu origin, derived from the Sanskrit language. It is a compound word formed by combining the terms "vinaya" meaning "respect" or "modesty" and "aak" meaning "lord" or "master." The name, therefore, translates to "Lord of Modesty" or "Respected Master."
Vinayak is one of the many names associated with the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed god revered as the remover of obstacles and the patron of arts, sciences, and wisdom. The name finds its earliest mentions in ancient Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas and the Vedas, where Lord Ganesha is extensively described and praised.
The earliest recorded use of the name Vinayak can be traced back to the 5th century CE, during the Gupta Empire period in ancient India. Several historical records and inscriptions from this era mention the name in reference to Lord Ganesha.
Throughout history, the name Vinayak has been associated with a few notable individuals. One of the earliest was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a renowned Indian independence activist, freedom fighter, and philosopher who lived from 1883 to 1966. Another prominent figure was Vinayak Narayan Bhatt, a celebrated Indian mathematician and scholar from the 7th century CE, who made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and astronomy.
In the realm of literature, one cannot overlook Vinayak Damodar Karve, a prominent Marathi writer, social reformer, and educator who lived from 1858 to 1962. His literary works and efforts towards promoting women's education left a lasting impact on Indian society.
The name Vinayak has also been borne by spiritual leaders, such as Vinayak Sadashiv Vyas, a renowned Hindu guru and founder of the Vyas Peeth ashram in Maharashtra, who lived from 1892 to 1963. His teachings and writings on spirituality and yoga continue to influence many.
Vinayak Naresh Chandra Dutta, an Indian jurist and politician from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was another notable figure who carried this name. He served as a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council and played a significant role in the Indian independence movement.
People
Vinayak + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vinayak as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vinayak: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vinayak?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 158 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vinayak 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 2,169,331 US residents.
Is Vinayak a common name?
We classify Vinayak as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 160 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vinayak most popular?
The single biggest year for Vinayak was 2000, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vinayak is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vinayak in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 824 people with the name Vinayak, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,328 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 Vinayak 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 Vinayak?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vinayak appears almost entirely male. Of the 829 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Vinayak?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vinayak is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Vinayak most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vinayak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.1% (784 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 Vinayak in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vinayak a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vinayak 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 Vinayak still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vinayak 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 Vinayak 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 called Vinayak?
Find out how many people have the name Vinayak on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.