Viren
A Hindu masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "brave, valiant, heroic".
Name Census estimates that about 252 living Americans carry the first name Viren. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Viren today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Viren births was 2012 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Viren. 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 Viren with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
252
~ 1 in 1,360,136 Americans
Peak year
2012
17 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,683
Tracked since 1987
Census
Viren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 522 people with the first name Viren, which placed it at #19,970 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
#19,970
National first-name rank
People counted
522
522 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Viren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viren is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Viren 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 Viren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.8% · 479
- White3.4% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 8
- Two or more races1.5% · 8
- Black or African American1.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Viren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Viren from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 123 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Viren remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Viren 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 Viren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Virens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Viren
The name Viren is of Indian origin, derived from the Sanskrit word "vira" meaning "brave" or "heroic." This name has its roots in ancient Hindu culture and can be traced back to the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Viren can be found in the epic Hindu text, the Mahabharata. In this ancient Sanskrit scripture, Viren is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought bravely in the great Battle of Kurukshetra.
During the medieval period in India, the name Viren gained popularity among the warrior classes and nobility. It was often given to sons with the hope that they would grow up to be valiant and courageous individuals.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Viren. One of the most famous was Viren Shah (1020-1094), a renowned military commander from the Solanki dynasty of Gujarat, India. He was known for his strategic brilliance and leadership on the battlefield.
Another notable Viren was Viren Mukherjee (1891-1958), an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who played a significant role in the country's independence movement against British colonial rule. He was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the underprivileged.
In more recent times, Viren Rasquinha (born 1979) is a former Indian field hockey player who captained the national team and won numerous international tournaments, including the Asia Cup and the Champions Trophy.
Viren Khanna (born 1967) is an Indian American businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded the successful software company Augnition. He has been recognized for his contributions to the technology industry and has been featured in various business publications.
Viren Khurana (born 1974) is an Indian classical vocalist and composer, renowned for his expertise in the Khayal and Thumri styles of Hindustani music. He has performed at prestigious venues around the world and has received numerous awards and accolades for his artistic excellence.
People
Viren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Viren 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
Viren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Viren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 252 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Viren 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 1,360,136 US residents.
Is Viren a common name?
We classify Viren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 255 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Viren most popular?
The single biggest year for Viren was 2012, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Viren is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Viren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 522 people with the name Viren, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,970 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 Viren 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 Viren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Viren appears almost entirely male. Of the 524 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Viren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viren is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Viren most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Viren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (479 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 Viren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Viren a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Viren 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 Viren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Viren 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 Viren 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 Viren?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.