About the name Ganesh
No ritual in Hinduism begins without invoking Ganesha first, which makes his name a permanent presence in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu especially. Naming a son Ganesh is less about ambition than about placing him under the protection of the deity you address before every new undertaking.
Ganesh is a boy name of Sanskrit origin, pronounced gah-NAYSH. On the NameRarity scale it scores 78 out of 100, which places it in the very rare band — a genuinely uncommon pick — most people have never met anyone with this name. Its strongest period was the timeless.
Name facts at a glance
How popular is Ganesh?
Ganesh currently falls outside the US top 1,000, which is a large part of why it scores so highly for rarity. Roughly 7.6 people per million carry it — about 1 in 131,579. In a school of 1,000 pupils you would expect not to find a single one.
Famous people named Ganesh
- Ganesh AcharyaIndian film choreographer and director
Spellings and variants of Ganesh
Names similar to Ganesh
Mahesh
mah-HAYSH
Great lord, an epithet of Shiva
Suresh
soo-RAYSH
Lord of the gods, an epithet of Indra
Reyansh
ray-AHNSH
Ray of light; a portion of Lord Vishnu
Shailesh
shy-LAYSH
Lord of the mountain, an epithet of Himalaya
Brijesh
brih-JAYSH
Lord of Braj, a name for Krishna
Dipesh
dee-PAYSH
Lord of light, master of the lamp
Ganesan
guh-NAY-sun
Lord of the ganas, the elephant-headed remover of obstacles
Gautam
GOW-tum
Descendant of the rishi Gotama, one of the Saptarishi
Ganesh — frequently asked questions
What does the name Ganesh mean?
Ganesh means "Lord of the ganas; the elephant-headed remover of obstacles". It is a name of Sanskrit origin, most often given to a boy.
How do you pronounce Ganesh?
Ganesh is pronounced gah-NAYSH, with 2 syllables.
How rare is the name Ganesh?
Ganesh scores 78 out of 100 on the NameRarity scale, which makes it very rare. Roughly 1 in every 131,579 people carry it — about 7.6 per million.
What is the numerology number for Ganesh?
Ganesh carries the expression number 9, known as The Humanitarian. Its soul urge number is 6 and its personality number is 3.
What is the lucky number and lucky colour for Ganesh?
The lucky number for Ganesh is 9 (with 18, 27, 36 also favourable), and its lucky colour is Coral Flame. The traditional lucky day is Tuesday and the associated gemstone is Bloodstone.