Manisha
Feminine · “Intellect”
Manisha looks like the American names it shares an ending with and is nothing of the kind: it is a Sanskrit word for the mind, and the root it is built on runs through half the languages of Europe and Asia.
How old is the name Manisha?
Manisha first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Manisha alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 900 people named Manisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Manisha most popular?
Manisha peaked in 1978, reaching #3009 nationally. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Manisha
The root under it is one of the oldest anybody has reconstructed. The Sanskrit manas, mind, is the same ancient word as the Greek menos, the Latin mens — which gives English mental, mention, comment and mind itself — and it sits inside mantra, which is literally an instrument of thought. Words built on it turn up from Ireland to Bengal, because the languages that carry it all descend from one language spoken somewhere north of the Black Sea several thousand years ago. A modern Indian name and a modern English adjective are the same word, worn down two different ways over five thousand years.
Meaning
Intellect, understanding, wisdom
The Sanskrit word means the mind or the faculty of understanding — not cleverness but the capacity itself. It is used as a name unchanged across northern India, and the meaning is entirely transparent to anyone who speaks the language.
Pronouncing Manisha
muh-NEE-shuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The sh is the ordinary English one.
Nicknames for Manisha
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
- 1969
- Most girls named
- 199433 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3009reached in 1978
- Change vs 2018
- 0.0%5 in 2024, from 5
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.
Manisha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- मनीषा in Hindi — same name
- Manisha in Sanskrit — same name
Manishas among us
people named Manisha 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
Manisha 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
- The meaning is settled, serious and genuinely attractive.
- Every sound in it is available in English, so nothing is hard.
- It works in India and in English-speaking countries without adjustment.
- In America it will be assumed to be a built name, which it is not.
- Manesha and Maneesha are both in the record and hers will be written as one of them.
- The short forms mean different things in Hindi, which is worth knowing.
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Manisha
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Manishas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Manisha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Manisha in 2025?
- Manisha is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Manisha with classmates?
- Manisha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Manisha? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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