Viraj
Masculine · “shining”
Viraj comes from Sanskrit, where the verb rāj means to shine and to rule — the same root that gives Raja and Raj. The word turns up in the Rigveda's Purusha Sukta as the name of a cosmic figure, and in Sanskrit prosody as a ten-syllable meter. Two syllables, five letters, ending on a clean consonant: it is short to say and short to write.
How old is the name Viraj?
Viraj first appears in US birth records in 1982 — 43 years ago. The typical Viraj is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,900 people named Viraj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Viraj most popular?
Viraj peaked in 2024, reaching #1145 nationally. Today it ranks #1333, 188 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Sanskrit rāj (to shine, to rule) to Viraj
The story of Viraj
Virāj is an old Sanskrit word before it is a modern given name. In the Purusha Sukta of the Rigveda it names a cosmic being, and in classical Sanskrit metrics it names a verse form of ten syllables per line. From there it passed into everyday use across Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Sinhala, where boys have carried it for generations. It reached American birth records only in recent decades, arriving with South Asian families, and today it is most concentrated in California, Texas and New Jersey.
Meaning
shining, sovereign, splendid
From Sanskrit vi- (an intensifying prefix) plus the root rāj, 'to shine, to rule' — the sense sits between radiance and kingship, which in Sanskrit are close neighbors.
How the name formed
- Sanskrit rājto shine, to rule
- Vedic Virāj
- Hindi/Marathi विराज
- Viraj
Related forms: Virāj · विराज · विराज · વિરાજ · විරාජ් · Viraaj
Pronouncing Viraj
vee-RAHJ
The stress usually falls on the second syllable, which carries a long ah; some families say VEE-rahj instead, and both are in ordinary use. The final j is the English j of jam.
Nicknames for Viraj
High
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
- 1982
- Most boys named
- 2024183 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1145reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −21.3%144 in 2025, from 183
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.
Viraj in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Virāj in Sanskrit — transliteration
- विराज in Hindi — transliteration
- विराज in Marathi — transliteration
- વિરાજ in Gujarati — transliteration
- විරාජ් in Sinhala — transliteration
- Viraaj in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Virajs among us
people named Viraj are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 11,862 born in 2025 was named Viraj
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Viraj
- #1333
- Viraj on the 2025 chart
- #765
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Viraj went to 144 boys in 2025, but Viraaj 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 — 568 places above the chart.
- Viraj144
- Viraaj19
About 1 boy in 10,479 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 11,862 for Viraj 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 Laurent test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Viraj's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Laurent climbed just as high around 1927, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Laurent's path sketches the road Viraj is walking now.
Viraj 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 Viraj is headed
Viraj looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 20% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium 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.
Viraj beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Viraj in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds in English — five letters, no silent parts, nothing a form or a teacher's roll call is likely to mangle.
- Comes with ready-made short forms: Raj and Vir both work, and both are established names on their own.
- Used across Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Sinhala, so it stays recognizable to family well beyond one language.
- A documented word with a long written history, reaching back to Vedic Sanskrit.
- English speakers meeting it cold sometimes try VYE-raj or put the stress on the wrong syllable. One correction usually fixes it, but expect to give that correction more than once.
- Outside areas with large South Asian communities, a Viraj is likely to be the only one in his school. That cuts both ways — no last-initial needed, but also no one who already knows the name.
- Viraaj, Virraj and the related Virat all circulate, so people who know the name may still guess the spelling wrong.
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What they receive
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Viraj
Masculine · #1333 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Virajs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Viraj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Viraj?
- Viraj is the most-used spelling in US records — 144 of the 163 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Viraaj.
- How popular is the name Viraj in 2025?
- Viraj ranks #1333 among US boy names in 2025, with 144 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Viraj?
- About 1 in every 11,862 US boys born in 2025 was named Viraj — 144 in all.
- Will my child share the name Viraj with classmates?
- Viraj will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Viraj
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Avyan#1333 · Aris#1333 · Markus#1333 · London#1333 · Noble#1333 · Sanad#1328 · Gilbert#1328 · Gus#1328
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Viraj? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Viraj and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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