Krish
Masculine · “dark”
Krish is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,811 boys against 10 girls since 1880.
Krish is the everyday short form of Krishna, one of the oldest continuously used names in the world, and it arrived in American records with families who brought it from India. One syllable, four sounds, and it lands cleanly in English — a k, an r, and that soft brushed ending. Short enough to shout across a yard, and attached to a name written down for well over two thousand years.
How old is the name Krish?
Krish first appears in US birth records in 1985 — 40 years ago. The typical Krish alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 4,800 people named Krish are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Krish most popular?
Krish peaked in 2006, reaching #632 nationally. Today it ranks #1276, 644 places below that high. See the whole 2006 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Kṛṣṇa to Krish
The story of Krish
The parent name comes from Sanskrit kṛṣṇa, 'dark' or 'dark blue', and belongs to Krishna, a figure at the heart of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita and of devotional traditions across South Asia. Shortening it is old and ordinary practice in Indian households, where longer names routinely become two- or one-syllable calling names — Krish alongside forms like Kishan, Kanha and Kannan. In the United States, Krish appears in the birth records only in recent decades, and its strongest footholds are the states with the largest South Asian communities, California, New Jersey and Texas. It works there as a full given name in its own right, not just a household nickname.
Meaning
dark, black, dark blue — via Krishna
Krish is a clipping of Sanskrit Kṛṣṇa (Krishna), an adjective meaning dark or dark blue, and the name of one of the central deities of Hinduism. The short form carries the meaning of the longer name rather than one of its own.
How the name formed
- Kṛṣṇa
- Krishna
- Krish
Related forms: Krishna · कृष्ण · Kishan · Kannan · Kanha · Krisna
Pronouncing Krish
KRISH
One syllable, rhyming with 'wish'. Straightforward for English speakers, though the ending is sometimes softened closer to a retroflex 'sh' in Indian languages.
Nicknames for Krish
High
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
- 1985
- Most boys named
- 2006371 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #632reached in 2006
- Change vs 2024
- +9.2%154 in 2025, from 141
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.
Krish in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Krishna in Sanskrit / Hindi — related form
- कृष्ण in Sanskrit (Devanagari) — transliteration
- Kishan in Hindi / Gujarati — related form
- Kannan in Tamil — related form
- Kanha in Hindi (devotional) — related form
- Krisna in Indonesian — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New Jersey, Texas.
Krishs among us
people named Krish are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 11,091 born in 2025 was named Krish
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 Gaetano test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Krish's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gaetano climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gaetano's path sketches the road Krish is walking now.
Krish 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 Krish is headed
Krish 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.
Krish beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Krish in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and spelled the way it sounds — most English speakers get it right on the first try after hearing it once.
- Backed by Krishna, a name with an unbroken written record stretching back to the Sanskrit epics.
- Works in both English and several Indian languages without changing spelling or pronunciation.
- Comes with ready-made longer and shorter options: Krishna for formal use, Krishu at home.
- Uncommon in American classrooms without being unfamiliar — a child is unlikely to share it with a peer.
- It sits one consonant away from Chris, and some people will hear and write it that way. Expect a lifetime of light corrections, most of them easy.
- Because the name points directly to a Hindu deity, some relatives may prefer the full Krishna for ceremonies and records, with Krish as the everyday name. Worth agreeing on early.
- The 'sh' ending can blur into a surname that starts with s or sh — say the whole name aloud a few times before deciding.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Krish to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Krish
Masculine · #1276 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Krishs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,800 people named Krish are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Krish in 2025?
- Krish ranks #1276 among US boy names in 2025, with 154 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Krish?
- About 1 in every 11,091 US boys born in 2025 was named Krish — 154 in all.
- Will my child share the name Krish with classmates?
- Krish will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Krish
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Percy#1276 · Andreas#1276 · Seamus#1276 · Octavio#1276 · Jadon#1281 · Kolten#1281 · Reginald#1281 · Aryeh#1281
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Krish? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Krish and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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