Vikram
Masculine · “valor”
Vikram is a stride. The Sanskrit word means a step taken with force — and behind it is the image of Vishnu crossing the whole world in three of them, which is where the sense of valor comes from.
How old is the name Vikram?
Vikram first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Vikram alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 2,000 people named Vikram are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vikram most popular?
Vikram peaked in 1981, reaching #1479 nationally. Today it ranks #2884, 1,405 places below that high. See the whole 1981 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From vikrama to Vikram
The story of Vikram
Vikramaditya is a legendary Indian king around whom an enormous body of story collected — the tales of the vampire on his shoulder, the thirty-two steps of his throne — and whether he corresponds to any single historical ruler is still argued. The Vikram Samvat calendar, used across northern India and Nepal, is named for him. The name has been in ordinary use across India for centuries and reaches United States records with Indian families, where it travels well because every sound in it exists in English.
Meaning
valor, prowess; a mighty stride
Sanskrit vikrama is vi- with krama, 'a step, a stride', and it means to stride out and, by extension, to show prowess. The image behind it is Vishnu's three strides across the universe in the form of Vamana, one of the older stories in the tradition. The reading is documented and not disputed.
How the name formed
- vikrama
- Vikram
Related forms: विक्रम · Vikram · Vikram · Bikram
Pronouncing Vikram
VIK-rum
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second vowel reduced almost to nothing. Hindi gives the r a light tap; English speakers manage the name almost exactly right at first sight.
Nicknames for Vikram
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 boys named
- 200065 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1479reached in 1981
- Change vs 2024
- −30.6%43 in 2025, from 62
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.
Vikram in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- विक्रम in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Vikram in Hindi — same name
- Vikram in Tamil — same name
- Bikram in Nepali — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Vikrams among us
people named Vikram are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 39,723 born in 2025 was named Vikram
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 Isidoro test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Vikram's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Isidoro climbed just as high around 1929, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Isidoro's path sketches the road Vikram is walking now.
Vikram 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 Vikram is headed
Vikram looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 26% 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.
Vikram beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Vikram in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An exact documented meaning with a vivid image behind it rather than an abstraction.
- Vik is a ready short form that needs no explaining in English.
- Six letters, no silent ones, and said correctly by English speakers immediately.
- Vikram and Bikram are the same name in different regional spellings and get confused.
- The short form Vicky reads as a girls' name in English-speaking countries.
- Its meaning is transparent across India and opaque everywhere else.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Vikram to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Vikram? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Vikram
Masculine · #2884 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Vikrams are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Vikram are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vikram in 2025?
- Vikram ranks #2884 among US boy names in 2025, with 43 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Vikram?
- About 1 in every 39,723 US boys born in 2025 was named Vikram — 43 in all.
- Will my child share the name Vikram with classmates?
- Vikram will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Vikram
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kamal#2884 · Blu#2884 · Rafi#2884 · Minh#2884 · Shaquille#2884 · Arnav#2884 · Jayven#2884 · Hiro#2884
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Vikram? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Vikram and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle