Anish
Masculine · “without a master”
The a- at the front of Anish is the same prefix as the a- in atheist and the un- in unhappy. Sanskrit, Greek and English all inherited one negative prefix from a common ancestor, and it is still doing the same job in all three, five thousand years later.
How old is the name Anish?
Anish first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Anish alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 3,100 people named Anish are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anish most popular?
Anish peaked in 2010, reaching #1047 nationally. Today it ranks #6446, 5,399 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
From anisha to Anish
The story of Anish
The Indo-European negative prefix survives as a- and an- in Sanskrit and Greek, in- in Latin, and un- and a- in English, and it is one of the clearest single pieces of evidence that those languages descend from one. Sanskrit uses it as freely as English does, and a large part of the Indian naming stock is built with it: Ajay, unconquered; Amar, undying; Akshay, indestructible; Anish. The device produces names that state what a child will not be, which is a distinctive way of making a name. Anish is used across northern and western India and reached its best year in United States records in 2010, later than most Indian names of its generation.
Meaningscholars disagree
without a master, supreme; or ceaseless
Two readings compete, both from the same privative prefix. Anisha as an plus isha, lord or master, gives without a master and thence supreme, and is used as an epithet of Vishnu and Shiva. Anisha as an plus nisha, night, gives without night and thence continuous or ceaseless. Both are genuine Sanskrit formations and both are given for the modern name.
How the name formed
- anisha
- Anish
Related forms: Anish · Anisha · Anish
Pronouncing Anish
uh-NEESH
Two syllables with the stress at the end. The final sh is the palatal one of Sanskrit, made slightly further forward than the English sh, but the difference is not audible to most English speakers.
Nicknames for Anish
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
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 2010184 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1047reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- −45.8%13 in 2025, from 24
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.
Anish in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anish in Hindi — same name
- Anisha in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Anish in Nepali — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Anishs among us
people named Anish are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 131,390 born in 2025 was named Anish
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 Sunny test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anish's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sunny climbed just as high around 1988, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sunny's path sketches the road Anish is walking now.
Anish 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
Anish beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anish in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A meaning built from a prefix that English speakers already use every day.
- Five letters, two syllables, and no spelling difficulty at all.
- Nish is a ready English-comfortable everyday form.
- Two readings compete and neither is wrong, so the meaning needs a choice.
- Anish and Aneesh are both standard transliterations.
- It is close to Anish, Ansh and Anisha, the last of which is a woman's name.
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What they receive
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Anish
Masculine · #6446 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anishs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Anish are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anish in 2025?
- Anish ranks #6446 among US boy names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anish?
- About 1 in every 131,390 US boys born in 2025 was named Anish — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anish with classmates?
- Anish will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anish
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rollie#6446 · Billie#6446 · Worth#6446 · Blas#6446 · Starling#6446 · Alvis#6446 · Elwyn#6446 · Rollin#6446
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anish? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anish and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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