Radha
Feminine · “prosperity”
Radha is the beloved of Krishna, and in the devotional tradition that grew around the two of them she is not a secondary figure. A great deal of Indian poetry, painting and music takes her side of the story rather than his.
How old is the name Radha?
Radha first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Radha alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,000 people named Radha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Radha most popular?
Radha peaked in 2025, reaching #2822 nationally. Today it ranks #2822, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From radha to Radha
The story of Radha
Radha appears in the Puranas and above all in the bhakti poetry of the medieval period, where she becomes the model of devotion — a love so complete that it stands for the soul's longing for God. The twelfth-century Gitagovinda made her central, and after that she is inseparable from Krishna in art and worship; in much of northern and eastern India the two are addressed together as Radha-Krishna, with her name first. She is worshipped in her own right in the Vaishnava traditions of Bengal and Braj, and the name is in ordinary use across India.
Meaning
prosperity, success; the one who pleases
Sanskrit radha comes from the root radh, which carries succeeding, prospering and pleasing. The reading is documented and not disputed. In devotional usage the name is also read against the verb in a second sense — the one who is pleasing and the one who is pleased — which is theology built on grammar rather than an alternative etymology.
How the name formed
- radha
- Radha
Related forms: राधा · Radha · Radha · Radhai
Pronouncing Radha
RAH-dhah
Two syllables, stress on the first. The dh is a single aspirated consonant in Sanskrit — a d with breath after it — not the th of this. English speakers say RAH-duh, which is close enough to be understood everywhere.
Nicknames for Radha
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
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 202560 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2822reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +42.9%60 in 2025, from 42
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.
Radha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- राधा in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Radha in Hindi — same name
- Radha in Bengali — same name
- Radhai in Tamil — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Radhas among us
people named Radha are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,788 born in 2025 was named Radha
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 Siana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Radha's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Siana climbed just as high around 2007, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Siana's path sketches the road Radha is walking now.
Radha 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 Radha is headed
Radha looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 23% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Radha beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Radha in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented meaning and one of the most beloved figures in Indian devotional tradition behind it.
- Five letters, no silent ones, and said correctly by English speakers at first sight.
- Recognized instantly across all of India, whatever the language of the household.
- The aspirated dh does not exist in English and will be flattened to a plain d.
- It carries very specific religious weight, which is either exactly the point or something to weigh.
- Radha, Radhika and Radhe are related but separate names and get confused abroad.
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What they receive
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Radha
Feminine · #2822 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Radhas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Radha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Radha in 2025?
- Radha ranks #2822 among US girl names in 2025, with 60 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Radha?
- About 1 in every 26,788 US girls born in 2025 was named Radha — 60 in all.
- Will my child share the name Radha with classmates?
- Radha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Radha
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lya#2822 · Roxanna#2822 · Kensington#2822 · Maybelle#2822 · Hayat#2822 · Seven#2822 · Livie#2822 · Haniya#2822
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Radha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Radha 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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