Viraaj
Masculine · “splendor”
Viraaj is a Vedic word about splendor, and it is also a technical one: in the oldest Sanskrit texts Viraj is a cosmic being, the first division of the primal person, and the word means shining out or ruling. The doubled a in this spelling marks a long vowel that English otherwise loses.
How old is the name Viraaj?
Viraaj first appears in US birth records in 2006 — 19 years ago. The typical Viraaj is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Viraaj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Viraaj most popular?
Viraaj peaked in 2016, reaching #2207 nationally. Today it ranks #5045, 2,838 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Where it comes from
From viraj to Viraaj
The story of Viraaj
The Purusha Sukta, one of the oldest hymns in the Rig Veda, describes the making of the world from a primal person, and Viraj appears there at the start of things. The word passed into ordinary Sanskrit meaning splendor and rule, and became a given name in that sense. It is used across Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati-speaking families. The spelling with two a is a transliteration choice, marking a long vowel that a single a would leave ambiguous in English.
Meaning
splendor; shining forth; sovereignty
Sanskrit viraj, from vi, forth or apart, and raj, to shine or to rule, the same root as raja, a king. In Vedic cosmology Viraj is a figure at the beginning of creation, which gives the word a weight beyond its plain sense.
How the name formed
- viraj
- Viraaj
Related forms: विराज · Viraj
Pronouncing Viraaj
vee-RAHJ
Two syllables with the stress at the end, the second vowel long, which is what the doubled a is marking. The final j is a full j sound.
Nicknames for Viraaj
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
- 2006
- Most boys named
- 201661 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2207reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- −40.6%19 in 2025, from 32
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.
Viraaj in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- विराज in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Viraj in Hindi — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Viraajs among us
people named Viraaj are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 89,899 born in 2025 was named Viraaj
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Viraaj
- #5045
- Viraaj on the 2025 chart
- #765
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Viraaj went to 19 boys in 2025, but Viraj is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 163, which makes it the 765th most-given boys’ name of the year — 4,280 places above the chart.
- Viraj144
- Viraaj19
About 1 boy in 10,479 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 89,899 for Viraaj itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Nicanor test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Viraaj's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nicanor climbed just as high around 1954, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nicanor's path sketches the road Viraaj is walking now.
Viraaj 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
Viraaj beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Viraaj in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is documented in one of the oldest surviving texts in any Indo-European language.
- Raj works as a short form and is instantly recognizable across India.
- The doubled a makes the pronunciation clear to English readers, which is what it is for.
- Viraj and Viraaj are both used, so records within a family may differ.
- English readers may treat the double a as a typing error.
- Outside Indian communities the name is unfamiliar and gets spelled out.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Viraaj 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 Viraaj? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Viraaj
Masculine · #5045 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Viraajs 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 Viraaj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Viraaj?
- Viraaj is one of 2 recorded spellings. Viraj is the more common one — 144 births in 2025 against 19 for Viraaj.
- How popular is the name Viraaj in 2025?
- Viraaj ranks #5045 among US boy names in 2025, with 19 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Viraaj?
- About 1 in every 89,899 US boys born in 2025 was named Viraaj — 19 in all.
- Will my child share the name Viraaj with classmates?
- Viraaj will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Viraaj
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Silver#5045 · Daymon#5045 · Thierry#5045 · Mehmet#5045 · Tyrel#5045 · Teague#5045 · Zeyad#5045 · Gardner#5045
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Viraaj? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Viraaj 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