Pooja
Pooja is a name with multiple cultural origins: Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Nepali.
- Hindi
- Marathi
- Gujarati
- Bengali
Meaning & Origin of Pooja
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Pooja is a name with multiple cultural origins: Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Nepali.
Origin data from Behind the Name .
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Hindi
- Marathi
- Gujarati
- Bengali
- Punjabi
- Telugu
- Malayalam
- Tamil
- Kannada
- Nepali
The Story of Pooja
The earliest SSA record of Pooja as a baby girl name dates back to 1976, when 8 babies received it. 1997 was its biggest year on record, with 117 newborns named Pooja — #1,419 in the national rankings. About 48% of every Pooja on record arrived during the 1990s, its defining decade. Pooja last appeared in the published SSA data in 2018, with 5 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 2K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Pooja
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Pooja. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Pooja
Phonetically similar names — useful when Pooja is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Pooja
What does the name Pooja mean?
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How popular is Pooja in 2026?
When was Pooja most popular?
In which U.S. states is Pooja most popular?
Is Pooja a unisex name?
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About the name Pooja
Pooja is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1976 and has accumulated 2K births in the dataset. Pooja's peak popularity came in 1997 when it ranked #1,419. Use the chart and map above to compare Pooja's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1997 →
- Names of the 1990s →
- Names starting with "P" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.