How rare is the name Sanjay?

8,737 people in the United States have the first name Sanjay, about 1 in 34,569. It ranks #2,687 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

SANJAY

#2,687

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,737
About
1 in 34,569
This common or more
80.6%
Who bears it

Of the 8,737 people named Sanjay, 87.6% reported their origin as Asian or Pacific Islander, 4.8% as Black and 3.7% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.5%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Sanjay peaked in 2006, when 90 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19622025
Peak year
2006
Births that year
90
In 2025*
20 ▼78%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 2,606 babies have been given the name since 1962. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Sanjay by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #3,442. The largest share of babies named Sanjay, 39.4%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1960s#5,430137
1970s#3,442391
1980s#4,697313
1990s#5,120383
2000s#4,352685
2010s#5,170568
2020s#9,811129
Baby boom 1946–640.9%
Generation X 1965–8020.7%
Millennials 1981–9620.6%
Generation Z 1997–1239.4%
2013 and later18.4%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Sanjay is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Sanjay has been most common in New York (4.2×), California (3×), and Florida (3×), and least common in Texas (0.76×).

1,070 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Sanjay

1 other first name also has 8,737 people.

#2,687 Alijah · 8,737

Either side of Sanjay

#2,686 Beckham · 8,743#2,687 Alijah · 8,737#2,689 Brylee · 8,736#2,689 Jacoby · 8,736

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Sanjay, most common first.

#11,199 Sanja · 1,159#28,137 Sanjaya · 321#32,469 Sanjoy · 259

Also a last name

As a last name, Sanjay ranks #80,289 of 156,621, with 255 people. See Sanjay as a last name

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