| Rakesh | Aniket | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Lord of the full moon | Without a home (Shiva) |
| Origin | sanskrit | sanskrit |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | rah-KESH | uh-ni-KAYT |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1980 (21) | 2003 (29) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Declining | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Rakesh | Aniket |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 0 | 16 |
| 2010s | 11 | 122 |
| 2000s | 58 | 171 |
| 1990s | 75 | 22 |
| 1980s | 153 | 0 |
| 1970s | 129 | 0 |
| 1960s | 16 | 0 |
Rakesh combines Sanskrit raka ('full moon' or the full-moon night) and isha ('lord, ruler'), i.e. 'lord of the full moon,' per Monier-Williams. A genuine, dictionary-backed lunar name.
From Sanskrit aniketa (अनिकेत), 'homeless, having no fixed abode', used as an epithet of Shiva (who belongs everywhere and nowhere). The meaning carries an ascetic, all-encompassing sense rather than a negative one.
Rakesh and Aniket are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Rakesh means Lord of the full moon (sanskrit origin), while Aniket means Without a home (Shiva) (sanskrit origin).
In US records, Rakesh first appears in 0 and Aniket in 0, so Rakesh has the longer recorded history.