Given name · also Sanskrit
Rakesh
“a king”
Rakesh is used as a given name. One Hindi interpretation is “a king.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hindi interpretation is “a king.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Sanskrit.
How it developed
It comes from the Sanskrit word raka, meaning “fullmoon day.”
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
Rakesh through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 442
- 442 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1980
- 21 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 2013. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,920 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.
People named Rakesh
- Rakesh SharmaFirst Indian astronautborn 1949
- Rakesh RoshanIndian film director and producerborn 1949
- Rakesh BediIndian actorborn 1954
- Rakesh JhunjhunwalaIndian investor and trader (1960–2022)
- Rakesh TikaitIndian farmer leader and spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Unionborn 1969
- Rakesh MohanIndian economistborn 1948
- Rakesh MasihIndian footballerborn 1987
- Rakesh KumarIndian Paralympian archerborn 1985
- Rakesh BakshiPopular Climate change activist, Awarded with several international and national awards including Padma Shri; and an eco-entrepreneur known for his excellent work in the field of renewable energy resources.1958–2020
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Rakesh, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Rajesh
“the king's rule”
>99% boys
Rajendra
“emperor” · “a powerful king”
>99% boys
Rajput
“prince”
>99% boys
Rajarshi
“the king's sage”
>99% boys
Rodrigues
“son of Rodrigo”
>99% boys
Himesh
“the snow king”
>99% boys
Rodriguez
“son of Rodrigo”
>99% boys
Reynald
“the king's advisor”
>99% boys