Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1966. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Rahul through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 3,332
- 3,332 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2000
- 196 babies
- 2025
- 8
- #9,498 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −23%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,498 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 22.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 196 in 2000. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 10,064 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Rahul’s family of names
In Bengali usage, Rahul is a Roman-alphabet rendering of রাহুল.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Rahul
- Rahul GandhiIndian politician (1970-present)
- Rahul BoseIndian actorborn 1967
- Rahul DravidIndian cricketerborn 1973
- R. D. BurmanIndian musician (1939–1994)
- Rahul KohliBritish actorborn 1985
- Rahul BajajIndian politician & businessman1938–2022
- Rahul RoyIndian actorborn 1968
- Rahul KhannaIndian actorborn 1972
- Rahul DevIndian actor (born 1968)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Rahul, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Anshul
“radiant, luminous, bright”
>99% boys
Atul
“un-” · “equal, comparable”
>99% boys
Nakul
“mongoose”
>99% boys
Rishab
“one who is musically talented”
>99% boys
Akash
Akash is a masculine given name from Sanskrit.
>99% boys
Ashutosh
“easily pleased”
>99% boys
Aniruddh
Aniruddh is a masculine given name from Sanskrit.
>99% boys
Abhijit
Abhijit is a masculine given name from Sanskrit.
>99% boys