Rajesh
Masculine · “lord of kings”
Rajesh is a Sanskrit compound, and the join in the middle of it has been welded shut by a rule the language applies automatically. Once the rule is known, a whole set of Indian men's names becomes readable: they all end in the same word.
How old is the name Rajesh?
Rajesh first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Rajesh alive today was born around 1979, making them about 46 years old. About 600 people named Rajesh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rajesh most popular?
Rajesh peaked in 1976, reaching #1346 nationally. See the whole 1976 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Rajesh
Sanskrit has a set of rules for what happens when words meet, and one of them fuses a final a with an initial i into a single e. That rule is why so many Indian men's names end the same way and why the ending is hard to see. Ramesh is Rama plus isha. Mahesh is maha plus isha, the great lord. Ganesh, Dinesh, Yogesh, Naresh, Umesh, Jitesh and Lokesh are all built the same way, and the second half is identical in every one of them: the word for a lord or master. The first half does the choosing — a god, a quality, a domain — and the ending supplies the rank. Somebody who knows one of these names can decode the rest, which is not something English naming offers at all.
Meaning
lord of kings
A compound of raja, a king, and isha, a lord or ruler. The a and the i have fused into a single e by a regular Sanskrit sound rule, which is why the join is invisible — the name is not raja plus esh but raja plus isha with the seam closed.
Pronouncing Rajesh
RAH-jesh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Both vowels are full, and the final sh is the ordinary English one rather than the retroflex sound Sanskrit distinguishes elsewhere.
Nicknames for Rajesh
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
- 1965
- Most boys named
- 197643 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1346reached in 1976
- Change vs 2006
- −25.0%6 in 2013, from 8
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.
Rajesh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- राजेश in Hindi — same name
Rajeshs among us
people named Rajesh 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
Rajesh 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
- Raj comes off it at once and is short, clear and widely recognized.
- The meaning is documented and fully transparent in the source language.
- Six letters with no silent ones make it easy to write and spell aloud.
- English speakers will stress it on the second syllable about half the time.
- Rajeesh and Rajish will both be written for it.
- The compound's meaning is grand, which some families like and others find heavy.
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Rajesh
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Rajeshs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Rajesh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rajesh in 2025?
- Rajesh is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Rajesh with classmates?
- Rajesh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Robert#92 · Richard#234 · Ronald#637 · Ryan#99 · Raymond#394 · Roger#832 · Ralph#1046 · Roy#525
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rajesh? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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