Adarsh
Masculine · “mirror”
Adarsh means mirror, and then it means ideal — the same short step that English makes when it calls something a model or a reflection of what it should be. It is a common name in Hindi-, Kannada- and Marathi-speaking families, and its American record follows South Asian migration, peaking in 2008.
How old is the name Adarsh?
Adarsh first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Adarsh alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 600 people named Adarsh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Adarsh most popular?
Adarsh peaked in 2008, reaching #2946 nationally. Today it ranks #5861, 2,915 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From drs to Adarsh
The story of Adarsh
Sanskrit generates abstract nouns very freely from verbal roots, and Indian naming draws on them heavily: Adarsh, Prakash, Vikas, Anand and Ananth are all ordinary words used as names. Adarsh in its abstract sense — an ideal, a standard to aim at — became especially usable in the twentieth century, when Indian naming shifted somewhat away from purely devotional names towards names of qualities and aspirations. It is common across northern and western India and in Karnataka. American records show it from the 1970s and rising through the 2000s with the growth of Indian communities in technology and medicine.
Meaning
mirror; an ideal, a model
Sanskrit adarsa is built on the prefix a- and the root drs, 'to see' — the same root as darshan, the sight of a deity that is central to Hindu worship. The literal sense is a mirror, something in which seeing happens. From there it took on the abstract sense of an exemplar or ideal, which is how the name is normally understood. Both senses are current in modern Hindi and neither is contested.
How the name formed
- drs
- adarsa
- Adarsh
Related forms: Adarsa · Adarsh · Adarsh · Adarsha
Pronouncing Adarsh
uh-DARSH
Two syllables, stress at the end, with the rsh said as a single cluster. English speakers manage it readily; the main variation is a first syllable given a full a, AH-darsh, which some Indian families prefer.
Nicknames for Adarsh
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
- 1975
- Most boys named
- 200840 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2946reached in 2008
- Change vs 2024
- +36.4%15 in 2025, from 11
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.
Adarsh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Adarsa in Sanskrit — same name
- Adarsh in Hindi — same name
- Adarsh in Kannada — same name
- Adarsha in Nepali — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Adarshs among us
people named Adarsh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 113,872 born in 2025 was named Adarsh
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 Tymon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Adarsh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tymon climbed just as high around 1974, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tymon's path sketches the road Adarsh is walking now.
Adarsh 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
Adarsh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Adarsh 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 concrete and abstract at once, and easy to explain in a sentence.
- Adi is a short form recognized across most of India.
- The spelling is phonetic and stable across transliteration.
- The final consonant cluster is unusual in English and gets simplified.
- It is close to Aadarsh and Adarsha, which are the same name spelled differently.
- It is rare in the United States and will be spelled out routinely.
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Adarsh
Masculine · #5861 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Adarshs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Adarsh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Adarsh in 2025?
- Adarsh ranks #5861 among US boy names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Adarsh?
- About 1 in every 113,872 US boys born in 2025 was named Adarsh — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Adarsh with classmates?
- Adarsh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Adarsh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eber#5861 · Wilton#5861 · Ruby#5861 · Stacy#5861 · Garner#5861 · Caldwell#5861 · Severin#5861 · Newton#5861
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Adarsh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Adarsh and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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