Medha
Feminine · “intelligence”
Medha and meditate come from the same root. The Indo-European stem meant to measure or take appropriate measures, and it gave Sanskrit medha, mental power, Latin meditari, to think over, and medicus, a doctor: the person who takes the right measure of an illness.
How old is the name Medha?
Medha first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Medha alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 900 people named Medha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Medha most popular?
Medha peaked in 2011, reaching #2725 nationally. Today it ranks #6546, 3,821 places below that high. See the whole 2011 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From medha to Medha
The story of Medha
The Medha Sukta, a Vedic hymn addressed to intelligence personified, is still recited, and medha is a technical term in Indian philosophy for the faculty that receives and holds knowledge, distinguished from dhi, insight, and buddhi, discriminating intellect. Indian naming draws heavily on this vocabulary of mental qualities, which is why Medha, Buddhi, Prajna and Smriti all appear as women's names. Medha is used chiefly in Maharashtra and among Marathi and Hindi speakers. It reached United States records with Indian migration and had its best year in 2011, which is later than most Indian names of its kind.
Meaning
intelligence, mental power, wisdom
Sanskrit medha, intelligence or retentive mental power, personified in the Vedas as a goddess of intellect. The root is generally reconstructed as one meaning to measure or to consider, which also gives Latin meditari, medicus and modus, and English mete and, through Latin, medical and moderate. The Sanskrit sense is specifically the capacity to grasp and retain.
How the name formed
- medha
- Medha
Related forms: Medha · Medha · Medha
Pronouncing Medha
MEH-dhah
Two syllables with the stress on the first. The dh is a single aspirated consonant, a d with a breath after it, not the th of this; English speakers routinely produce MED-uh.
Nicknames for Medha
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
- 1993
- Most girls named
- 201164 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2725reached in 2011
- Change vs 2024
- −22.7%17 in 2025, from 22
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.
Medha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Medha in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Medha in Marathi — same name
- Medha in Hindi — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Medhas among us
people named Medha are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 94,545 born in 2025 was named Medha
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 Giovanni test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Medha's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Giovanni climbed just as high around 1993, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Giovanni's path sketches the road Medha is walking now.
Medha 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
Medha beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Medha 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 with an unusually deep philosophical history.
- Five letters, two syllables, and simple vowels throughout.
- Connected by root to a family of familiar English words.
- The aspirated dh is not an English sound and will be flattened.
- Medha and Megha are one letter apart and mean quite different things.
- Outside Indian communities the name is unfamiliar and will need spelling.
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What they receive
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Medha
Feminine · #6546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Medhas 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 Medha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Medha in 2025?
- Medha ranks #6546 among US girl names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Medha?
- About 1 in every 94,545 US girls born in 2025 was named Medha — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Medha with classmates?
- Medha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Medha
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseann#6546 · Solveig#6546 · Elona#6546 · Rosette#6546 · Bradie#6546 · Rida#6546 · Gwendalyn#6546 · Lorene#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Medha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Medha and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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