Given name & surname · also Sanskrit
Mahesh
“great ruler”·“a great ruler”
Mahesh is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “great ruler” (Sanskrit) and “a great ruler” (Hindi). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Hindiमहेश
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “great ruler” (Sanskrit) and “a great ruler” (Hindi). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Sanskrit.
How it developed
Its Sanskrit formation brings together maha- (“great”) and isa (“ruler”).
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1970. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Mahesh through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 214
- 214 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 14 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2017. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 14 in 2007. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,402 as a first name in 2020; 898 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Mahesh’s family of names
Mahesh has a related form in Maheshe. In English usage, Mahesh has a conventional equivalent in the Hindi form महेश.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Mahesh
- Mahesh BhattIndian film director, producer and screenwriterborn 1948
- Mahesh BhupathiIndian tennis playerborn 1974
- Mahesh BabuIndian actorborn 1975
- Mahesh ManjrekarIndian actorborn 1958
- M. C. MehtaIndian lawyerborn 1946
- Mahesh SharmaIndian politicianborn 1959
- Mahesh JaduAustralian actorborn 1982
- Mahesh GawliIndian footballerborn 1980
- Mahesh ChhetriNepali cricket playerborn 1988
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Mahesh, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Aneesh
“having no lord/master”
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Madan
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Sandesh
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Dinesh
“lord of the day” · “of the sun”
>99% boys
Aryaman
Aryaman is a masculine given name from Sanskrit, ultimately from Hindi.
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Naren
“the best among all men”
>99% boys
Vadin
“a known speaker”
>99% boys
Ashutosh
“easily pleased”
>99% boys