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Vishnu

#5,588 in 2025Boys' name

To pervade, through विष्णु

Vishnu has been given to 1,130 babies in the U.S. since 1977. In 2025 it ranked #5,588 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2007, with 65 recorded.

Babies named Vishnu, 2025

1 in 195,000

Vishnu over time, 1880–2025

Boys
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Vishnu: meaning, origin, and history

To pervade, through विष्णु

Sanskrit

What Vishnu means

Vishnu belongs to the name family reached through Vishnu → विष्णु. Its meaning is “to pervade”.

Origin, language, and formation

Vishnu is used in English. Its origins include Sanskrit.

Vishnu comes through Sanskrit विष्णु.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include व and विष्णु.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Vishnu is pronounced /ˈvɪʃnu/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,130 boys were recorded with the name Vishnu between 1977 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 65 in 2007; its best national rank was #2,116 in 2007.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,844 in 2020 to #5,588 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #4,168 in 2015 to #5,588 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Vishnu?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 195,000
17 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 100,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#5,588
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
135,172 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Vishnu sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 135,172 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Vishnu. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Vishnus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Vishnu was born before 2007 — so the typical Vishnu is around 18 today.

Median birth year
2007
About 18 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
41.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
76.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,130
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 41.2% of all recorded uses (466).

Is Vishnu rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−538
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−744
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,420
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.68×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
26.2%
Peak was 2007 (65)
Years since peak
18
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,116
2007

Spellings of Vishnu

Vishnu is not the most common spelling — Vishal is, with 60.5% against Vishnu's 39.5%.

  • Vishal60.5%1,734
  • Vishnu39.5%1,130

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Vishnu is used

Across 1910–2025, Vishnu was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 241,968 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2New Jersey1 in 100,000
  3. 3Michigan1 in —
  4. 4New York1 in —
  5. 5Ohio1 in —
  6. 6Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Vishnu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Vishnu around the world

Where Vishnu ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #2,952
    in 2025
  • France
    2012–2025
    #6,313
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1994–2024
    #2,855
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1997–1997
    #543
    in 1997

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Vishnu by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,588
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 744
Best rank ever
#2,116
2007
Peak year
2007
65 that year
First recorded
1977
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,130
Count in 2025
17

Names similar to Vishnu

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

VishalVishwaVisionVishruthJishnuVisenteVishanVishrutVishaalVishaanVishvaVishwakVishakVisheshVishrudhViserysVishvVishantVishakanVishanthVishaganVishweshSahishnu

Sibling names for Vishnu

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Vishnu

Top names of 2007, Vishnu's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2007Boys' names starting with V