| Krishna | Kunal | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Dark; black | Lotus; a bird with beautiful eyes |
| Origin | sanskrit | sanskrit |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | KRISH-nuh | KUH-nahl |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2007 (85) | 1994 (60) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Steady | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Krishna | Kunal |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 339 | 24 |
| 2010s | 673 | 92 |
| 2000s | 655 | 324 |
| 1990s | 346 | 454 |
| 1980s | 152 | 351 |
| 1970s | 162 | 14 |
| 1960s | 53 | 0 |
| 1950s | 5 | 0 |
From Sanskrit krishna (कृष्ण), literally 'black, dark, dark-blue'. It is the name of the eighth avatar of Vishnu, the beloved deity of the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata, so the name is first and foremost a divine name.
From the Sanskrit कुणाल (kuṇāla), usually glossed as 'lotus' and secondarily 'a bird with beautiful eyes' (the latter a folk etymology). Historically the name of Emperor Ashoka's son Kunala, 3rd century BCE.
Krishna and Kunal are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Krishna means Dark; black (sanskrit origin), while Kunal means Lotus; a bird with beautiful eyes (sanskrit origin).
In US records, Krishna first appears in 0 and Kunal in 0, so Krishna has the longer recorded history.