# Asha (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/asha/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Sanskrit |
| Meaning | “hope”, “wish” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 9,127 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 58 / 9,069 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,804, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit आशा (āśā, “hope, wish”).

## What it means

Asha is grouped under hope.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 201 | 1,196 |
| 2012 | 212 | 1,158 |
| 2013 | 191 | 1,248 |
| 2014 | 202 | 1,206 |
| 2015 | 181 | 1,311 |
| 2016 | 187 | 1,287 |
| 2017 | 210 | 1,172 |
| 2018 | 200 | 1,192 |
| 2019 | 192 | 1,219 |
| 2020 | 147 | 1,462 |
| 2021 | 161 | 1,370 |
| 2022 | 135 | 1,575 |
| 2023 | 169 | 1,339 |
| 2024 | 201 | 1,188 |
| 2025 | 160 | 1,373 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 5 | 7,037 |
| 1989 | 9 | 5,195 |
| 1993 | 7 | 6,872 |
| 1999 | 6 | 8,792 |
| 2005 | 5 | 11,618 |
| 2017 | 5 | 12,433 |
| 2019 | 5 | 12,312 |
| 2020 | 5 | 12,194 |
| 2021 | 6 | 10,908 |
| 2022 | 5 | 12,520 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 49 | 766 |
| 2012 | 49 | 789 |
| 2013 | 47 | 813 |
| 2014 | 39 | 940 |
| 2015 | 39 | 923 |
| 2016 | 34 | 1,031 |
| 2017 | 34 | 1,043 |
| 2018 | 34 | 1,035 |
| 2019 | 25 | 1,292 |
| 2020 | 31 | 1,065 |
| 2021 | 26 | 1,259 |
| 2022 | 24 | 1,326 |
| 2023 | 24 | 1,325 |
| 2024 | 31 | 1,097 |
| 2025 | 16 | 1,809 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 3 | 3,467 |
| 2004 | 5 | 2,578 |
| 2005 | 4 | 3,208 |
| 2006 | 5 | 2,870 |
| 2007 | 6 | 2,741 |
| 2008 | 4 | 3,687 |
| 2009 | 7 | 2,544 |
| 2011 | 4 | 3,830 |
| 2015 | 4 | 3,908 |
| 2017 | 4 | 3,996 |
| 2018 | 4 | 3,959 |
| 2019 | 3 | 4,702 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |
| 2022 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2023 | 3 | 4,991 |

## In other languages

- Hindi: आशा

## People named Asha

- Asha Philip, British sprinter
- Asha Banks, English actress and singer
- Asha Gigi, Ethiopian marathon runner
- Asha Rawat, cricketer
- Asha Kale, actress
- Bella Forsgrén, Finnish politician

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.