Anoushka
Feminine · “A Russian pet form of Anna”
Anoushka is the Russian pet form of Anna, spelled the way French and English readers learned it, and it has a modern bearer of real distinction: the sitar player Anoushka Shankar. Three syllables with the stress in the middle, and a tenderness built into its ending.
How old is the name Anoushka?
Anoushka first appears in US birth records in 2000 — 25 years ago. The typical Anoushka alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 600 people named Anoushka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anoushka most popular?
Anoushka peaked in 2009, reaching #2966 nationally. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hannah to Anoushka
The story of Anoushka
Russian has a whole ladder of affectionate forms for Anna — Anya, Anechka, Annushka — and Annushka reached Western Europe in the French-style spelling Anoushka. In Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita, a woman called Annushka spills a can of sunflower oil at a tram stop in the first chapter, and the editor Berlioz slips on it and falls under a tram, exactly as the Devil had just predicted. Ravi Shankar gave the name to his daughter, born in London in 1981; Anoushka Shankar studied the sitar with him from childhood and became one of the best-known sitar players in the world. The name came into American use in the twenty-first century.
Meaning
A Russian pet form of Anna, 'grace'
Anna comes from Hebrew Hannah, 'grace, favor'. Russian -ushka is an affectionate ending.
How the name formed
- Hannah
- Anna
- Annushka
- Anoushka
Related forms: Annushka · Anna · Anouchka · Anushka
Pronouncing Anoushka
uh-NOOSH-kuh
Three syllables with the stress on the second. In Russian the stress falls on the first: AH-noosh-ka.
Nicknames for Anoushka
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
- 2000
- Most girls named
- 200958 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2966reached in 2009
- Change vs 2023
- +16.7%7 in 2024, from 6
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.
Anoushka in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Annushka in Russian — transliteration
- Anna in Russian — related form
- Anouchka in French — spelling variant
- Anushka in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Anoushkas among us
people named Anoushka are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Anoushka sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Built on Anna, one of the most familiar names in the world.
- Has a well-known modern bearer in Anoushka Shankar.
- Warm and distinctive without being hard to say.
- Anushka and Anouska are common alternatives, so it will need spelling out.
- Its English and Russian stress fall in different places; decide which one the family uses.
- In Russian it is a pet form, which may surprise Russian-speaking acquaintances.
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What they receive
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Anoushka
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Anoushkas 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 Anoushka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anoushka in 2025?
- Anoushka is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Anoushka with classmates?
- Anoushka will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anoushka? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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