Vishal
An Indian masculine given name meaning "vast" or "gigantic".
Name Census estimates that about 1,681 living Americans carry the first name Vishal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vishal today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vishal births was 2003 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vishal. 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 Vishal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 203,899 Americans
Peak year
2003
72 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,089
Tracked since 1970
Census
Vishal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,517 people with the first name Vishal, which placed it at #3,684 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
#3,684
National first-name rank
People counted
5.5K
5,517 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vishal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vishal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Black (1.8%). 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 Vishal 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 Vishal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.2% · 5,140
- White2.7% · 150
- Black or African American1.8% · 100
- Two or more races1.4% · 76
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 22
Popularity
Vishal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vishal from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 540 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vishal 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 Vishal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vishals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Vishal, while Virginia, Michigan, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 85 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vishal
The given name Vishal originates from Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the root of many modern Indo-Iranian languages. It emerged in the Indian subcontinent during the 2nd millennium BCE. Vishal is derived from the Sanskrit word 'vishal,' which means vast, expansive, or immense.
The name Vishal finds its roots in ancient Hindu texts, including the Vedas and Puranas, where it is often used to describe the vastness of the universe or the greatness of divine beings. It is also associated with the concepts of grandeur, magnificence, and vastness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vishal can be found in the epic Hindu scripture, the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a character. Vishal was also the name of a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 7th century CE.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vishal. One of the most famous was Vishal Shekhar, an Indian music composer and singer who was born in 1977. He is renowned for his work in Bollywood films and has won numerous awards for his contributions to the Indian music industry.
Another notable figure was Vishal Bhardwaj, an Indian film director, screenwriter, and music composer born in 1965. He is known for his critically acclaimed films that often explore complex themes and socio-political issues.
In the field of sports, Vishal Singh, an Indian cricketer born in 1987, has represented India in various international tournaments. He is known for his impressive batting skills and has been a part of several successful Indian cricket teams.
Vishal Sikka, an Indian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur born in 1967, served as the CEO of Infosys, a major Indian IT company, from 2014 to 2017. He is recognized for his contributions to the field of artificial intelligence and his efforts in transforming Infosys into a global leader in technology services.
Lastly, Vishal Mangalmukhi, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer born in 1970, has made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Indian classical dance forms. He is renowned for his innovative choreography and has received numerous awards and accolades for his artistic achievements.
People
Vishal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vishal 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
Vishal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vishal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,681 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vishal 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 203,899 US residents.
Is Vishal a common name?
We classify Vishal as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,729 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vishal most popular?
The single biggest year for Vishal was 2003, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vishal is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vishal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,517 people with the name Vishal, or 1.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,684 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 Vishal 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 Vishal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vishal appears almost entirely male. Of the 5,523 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 Vishal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vishal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Black (1.8%). 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 Vishal most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vishal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (5,140 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 Vishal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vishal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vishal 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 Vishal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vishal 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 Vishal 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 Vishal?
Find out how many people have the name Vishal on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.