Vinita
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "modest" or "humble".
Name Census estimates that about 549 living Americans carry the first name Vinita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vinita today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vinita births was 1921 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vinita. 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 Vinita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
549
~ 1 in 624,325 Americans
Peak year
1921
33 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2009 SSA rank
#17,180
Tracked since 1900
Census
Vinita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,459 people with the first name Vinita, which placed it at #9,499 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
#9,499
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,459 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
63.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vinita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vinita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.5%. The next largest groups are White (21.2%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Vinita 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 Vinita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander63.5% · 927
- White21.2% · 309
- Black or African American11.3% · 165
- Two or more races2.3% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7
Popularity
Vinita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vinita from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 213 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vinita 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 Vinita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vinitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas recorded the most babies named Vinita, while Arkansas, Texas, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vinita
The name Vinita has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was prevalent in ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "vinita," which means "well-mannered," "polite," or "humble." The name is believed to have been in use since the early centuries of the Common Era.
Vinita was a relatively common name among Hindu communities in India, particularly in the northern and central regions. It was often bestowed upon girls with the hope that they would embody the virtues of humility and good manners, which were highly valued in traditional Indian society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vinita can be found in the ancient Hindu scripture, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Vinita is mentioned as the name of a celestial nymph who played a significant role in the story's narrative.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Vinita. One of the most prominent was Vinita Kamte (1936-2021), an Indian social worker and activist who dedicated her life to the empowerment of women and children. She founded the Priyadarshini Academy, an educational institution in Mumbai, and was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 2010.
Another noteworthy Vinita was Vinita Nair (born 1978), an Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She is renowned for her contributions to the Mohiniyattam dance form, which originated in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Nair has performed extensively both in India and abroad, and has received numerous accolades for her artistic achievements.
In the field of literature, Vinita Krishna Mukherjee (1921-2012) was a respected Indian novelist and short story writer. Her works often explored themes of social injustice, gender inequality, and the struggles of the marginalized sections of society. She received several prestigious literary awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Vibhushan.
Another notable figure was Vinita Bali (born 1955), a prominent Indian businesswoman. She served as the Managing Director of Britannia Industries, a leading food company in India, from 2005 to 2014. Under her leadership, Britannia underwent a remarkable transformation and became a highly successful and respected brand.
Lastly, Vinita Kinra (born 1961) is a Canadian author and activist of Indian descent. She has written several books exploring themes of identity, culture, and the experiences of South Asian immigrants in Canada. Kinra has been actively involved in promoting diversity and inclusion and has received recognition for her efforts in fostering cross-cultural understanding.
People
Vinita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vinita 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
Vinita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vinita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 549 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vinita 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 624,325 US residents.
Is Vinita a common name?
We classify Vinita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,227 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vinita most popular?
The single biggest year for Vinita was 1921, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vinita is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vinita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,459 people with the name Vinita, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,499 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 Vinita 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 Vinita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vinita appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,455 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Vinita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vinita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.5%. The next largest groups are White (21.2%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Vinita most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vinita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.5% (927 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 Vinita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vinita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vinita 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 Vinita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vinita 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 Vinita 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 common is the name Vinita?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Vinita at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.