Indira
Feminine · “beauty”
Indira is a Sanskrit epithet of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity — and it is the name of the woman who governed India for most of two decades.
How old is the name Indira?
Indira first appears in US birth records in 1966 — 59 years ago. The typical Indira alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 2,400 people named Indira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Indira most popular?
Indira peaked in 1966, reaching #1715 nationally. Today it ranks #3780, 2,065 places below that high. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Indira
Indira is one of Lakshmi's many names in the devotional literature, and Lakshmi is the goddess of fortune, prosperity and beauty. Its modern prominence outside India comes from one bearer: the prime minister who governed from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. The name is used across India and reaches American records with Indian families and, separately, in Latin America.
Meaning
beauty, splendor
From Sanskrit indira, an epithet of Lakshmi generally read as beauty or splendor; the word is used in devotional literature and the connection to Indra, the Vedic god, is popular and not established.
Pronouncing Indira
in-DEE-rah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Some English speakers say IN-dih-rah.
Nicknames for Indira
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
- 1966
- Most girls named
- 200172 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1715reached in 1966
- Change vs 2024
- −29.1%39 in 2025, from 55
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.
Indira in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Indira in Hindi — transliteration
- Indira in Sanskrit — same name
- Indira in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Indiras among us
people named Indira are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 41,212 born in 2025 was named Indira
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 Ailie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Indira's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ailie climbed just as high around 1912, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ailie's path sketches the road Indira is walking now.
Indira 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 Indira is headed
Indira should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Indira beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Indira in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning drawn from a major devotional tradition.
- Indi and Ira are both usable short forms with their own lives.
- Very widely recognized in India and beyond it.
- The prime minister is the first association for most people and her record is contested.
- The stress is unsettled between the first and second syllables.
- The connection to the god Indra is popularly assumed and not supported.
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What they receive
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Indira
Feminine · #3780 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Indiras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Indira are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Indira in 2025?
- Indira ranks #3780 among US girl names in 2025, with 39 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Indira?
- About 1 in every 41,212 US girls born in 2025 was named Indira — 39 in all.
- Will my child share the name Indira with classmates?
- Indira will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Indira
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kimberlyn#3780 · Jonah#3780 · Aine#3780 · Jakayla#3780 · Shriya#3780 · Analeigh#3780 · Daliyah#3780 · Jamia#3780
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Indira? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Indira and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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