Krishna
Feminine · “black”
Krishna is given to both — 1,906 girls and 2,385 boys since 1880. See Krishna as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Krishna means black. It is a plain color adjective in Sanskrit, and the god's dark skin is what it describes; the blue of the paintings is a later convention. Draupadi, the heroine of the Mahabharata, carries the feminine of the same word for the same reason.
How old is the name Krishna?
Krishna first appears in US birth records in 1958 — 67 years ago. The typical Krishna alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 1,900 people named Krishna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Krishna most popular?
Krishna peaked in 1971, reaching #1528 nationally. Today it ranks #6838, 5,310 places below that high. See the whole 1971 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From krishna to Krishna
The story of Krishna
Krishna is one of the most widely worshipped figures in Hinduism, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, the charioteer of the Bhagavad Gita and the cowherd of the Bhagavata Purana; the devotional traditions built around him are among the largest religious movements in the world. His name being a plain color word is characteristic of Sanskrit naming, which uses ordinary vocabulary freely. As a given name Krishna is used for both sexes in India, more often for men, and the female use draws on Draupadi and on the goddess forms. It reached United States records with Indian migration and had its best year on the female side in 1971.
Meaning
black, dark
Sanskrit krishna, black or dark blue. It is an ordinary color adjective and is used as such throughout Sanskrit literature. The feminine krishnaa is applied to Draupadi. The god's blue depiction in art is an iconographic convention that developed later, and the name itself describes darkness rather than blue.
How the name formed
- krishna
- Krishna
Related forms: Krishna · Krsna · Kannan · Kresna
Pronouncing Krishna
KRISH-nah
Two syllables with the stress on the first. The kr cluster is straightforward in English, and the sh is the retroflex one of Sanskrit, made further back than the English sh.
Nicknames for Krishna
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
- 1958
- Most girls named
- 197165 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1528reached in 1971
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%16 in 2025, from 16
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.
Krishna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Krishna in Hindi — same name
- Krsna in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Kannan in Tamil — related form
- Kresna in Indonesian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Krishnas among us
people named Krishna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 100,454 born in 2025 was named Krishna
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 Avanelle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Krishna's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Avanelle climbed just as high around 1913, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Avanelle's path sketches the road Krishna is walking now.
Krishna 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
Krishna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Krishna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Sanskrit meaning that is a single plain word.
- One of the most widely worshipped figures in the world behind it.
- Krish and Kris are two short forms in two registers.
- It is used for both sexes in India, more often for men.
- Naming a child for a deity is a serious commitment in some families.
- It is close to Krisha and Kristina and gets confused in American settings.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Krishna to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Krishna
Feminine · #6838 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Krishnas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Krishna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Krishna in 2025?
- Krishna ranks #6838 among US girl names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Krishna?
- About 1 in every 100,454 US girls born in 2025 was named Krishna — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Krishna with classmates?
- Krishna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Krishna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Malana#6838 · Jeannie#6838 · Maxie#6838 · Nicol#6838 · Chaney#6838 · Keana#6838 · Concetta#6838 · Pheobe#6838
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Krishna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Krishna and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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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