Abhinav
Masculine · “Sanskrit "new”
Abhinav means new, and it means it in a particular way — not new as in recent, but new as in freshly made, novel, unprecedented. Sanskrit has several words for newness and this one is built from a prefix meaning toward or intensely, joined to the ordinary word for new.
How old is the name Abhinav?
Abhinav first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Abhinav alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 1,900 people named Abhinav are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Abhinav most popular?
Abhinav peaked in 2008, reaching #1303 nationally. Today it ranks #7194, 5,891 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From abhi + nava to Abhinav
The story of Abhinav
Abhinavagupta was an eleventh-century Kashmiri philosopher, aesthetician and mystic, one of the major figures of Kashmir Shaivism and the author of a foundational treatise on aesthetic experience. That gives the name a scholarly weight in Indian tradition beyond its plain meaning. As a modern given name it is common across North India, and its American figures rise with post-1965 South Asian immigration, peaking in 2008 in the second American-born generation.
Meaning
Sanskrit "new, novel, fresh"
From abhi, a prefix meaning toward, over or intensely, plus nava, new — the same Indo-European root as Latin novus and English new. The compound intensifies: entirely new, freshly made. The etymology is settled and the word is in use in Hindi and other modern Indian languages.
How the name formed
- abhi + nava
- अभिनवAbhinava
- Abhinav
Related forms: अभिनव · अभिनव · Novus
Pronouncing Abhinav
uh-bee-NUV
Three syllables with the stress on the last. The bh is an aspirated b, a single consonant that English does not have — not a b followed by an h. English speakers say AB-hi-nav, separating the two letters, which is not the Sanskrit sound.
Nicknames for Abhinav
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1990
- Most boys named
- 2008133 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1303reached in 2008
- Change vs 2024
- −35.3%11 in 2025, from 17
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Abhinav in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- अभिनव in Sanskrit — same name
- अभिनव in Hindi — same name
- Novus in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Maryland.
Abhinavs among us
people named Abhinav are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 155,280 born in 2025 was named Abhinav
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Edrick test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Abhinav's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Edrick climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Edrick's path sketches the road Abhinav is walking now.
Abhinav sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Abhinav beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Abhinav in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, brief and appealing.
- Abhi is a warm, universally used short form in India.
- It connects to a major medieval philosopher for families who want that.
- The aspirated bh is not reproducible in English and gets split into two sounds.
- The stress falls on the final syllable, which English speakers move forward.
- The short form Abhi reads as female in America.
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What they receive
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Abhinav
Masculine · #7194 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Abhinavs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Abhinav are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Abhinav in 2025?
- Abhinav ranks #7194 among US boy names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Abhinav?
- About 1 in every 155,280 US boys born in 2025 was named Abhinav — 11 in all.
- Will my child share the name Abhinav with classmates?
- Abhinav will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Abhinav
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Junius#7194 · Orie#7194 · Shade#7194 · Chesley#7194 · Joesph#7194 · Lofton#7194 · Macon#7194 · Benjiman#7194
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Abhinav? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Abhinav and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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