Dhruv
Masculine · “Fixed”
Dhruv is the Sanskrit word for what does not move — and the name Indian astronomy gave the Pole Star, the one point in the night sky that stays put while everything turns around it. It has been in continuous use for well over two thousand years, and it arrives in English as a single firm syllable that rhymes with groove.
How old is the name Dhruv?
Dhruv first appears in US birth records in 1987 — 38 years ago. The typical Dhruv is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 4,400 people named Dhruv are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dhruv most popular?
Dhruv peaked in 2019, reaching #997 nationally. Today it ranks #1097, 100 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Sanskrit dhruva (fixed, immovable) to Dhruv
The story of Dhruv
The word dhruva appears in Sanskrit from its earliest layers, meaning fixed, steadfast, immovable — and by extension the still point of the sky, the Pole Star. The Puranas tell the story of the boy Dhruva, a prince who through single-minded devotion to Vishnu was set in the heavens as that star, and it is this narrative that carried the word into use as a given name across Hindu communities. From Sanskrit it passed into Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali, which shortened the final vowel to give the modern Dhruv. It reached the United States with families from India in the later twentieth century, and has been held in American records ever since without any sharp rise or fall.
Meaning
Fixed, firm, constant; also the Pole Star
From Sanskrit dhruva. The same word names the North Star in Indian tradition, still called Dhruv Tara in Hindi.
How the name formed
- Sanskrit dhruvafixed, immovable
- Dhruva
- Dhruv
Related forms: Dhruva · ध्रुव · Dhruba · Dhrub · Dhruva · Dhruv
Pronouncing Dhruv
DROOV
One syllable, rhyming with groove. The Hindi original has an aspirated dh and a light final v that most English speakers flatten to a plain d and a full v — widely accepted either way.
Nicknames for Dhruv
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
- 1987
- Most boys named
- 2019210 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #997reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −2.0%195 in 2025, from 199
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.
Dhruv in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dhruva in Sanskrit — same name
- ध्रुव in Hindi — transliteration
- Dhruba in Bengali — related form
- Dhrub in Nepali — spelling variant
- Dhruva in Kannada — same name
- Dhruv in Gujarati — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Dhruvs among us
people named Dhruv are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,759 born in 2025 was named Dhruv
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 Horacio test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dhruv's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Horacio climbed just as high around 1977, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Horacio's path sketches the road Dhruv is walking now.
Dhruv 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
Where Dhruv is headed
Dhruv should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Dhruv beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dhruv in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, so it never needs shortening and rarely gets mangled in a roll call once heard aloud.
- Recognized across Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali speakers, with the same spelling in Latin script.
- A documented Sanskrit word with an unbroken record stretching back more than two millennia.
- Held steadily in US records for decades rather than riding a fashion up and down.
- The dh will almost always be pronounced as a plain d in American English. If the aspirated Hindi sound matters to you, expect to correct it often, or to accept the local version.
- Because it is uncommon here, the spelling will need saying letter by letter — Druv and Dhruva are the usual near-misses.
- There is no ready-made English nickname, which some families like and others miss. Dhru is the one short form in real use.
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What they receive
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Dhruv
Masculine · #1097 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dhruvs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,400 people named Dhruv are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dhruv in 2025?
- Dhruv ranks #1097 among US boy names in 2025, with 195 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dhruv?
- About 1 in every 8,759 US boys born in 2025 was named Dhruv — 195 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dhruv with classmates?
- Dhruv will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dhruv
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dimitri#1097 · Bobby#1097 · Rami#1097 · Brendan#1097 · Kit#1097 · Turner#1097 · Mael#1097 · Dayton#1097
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dhruv? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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