| Shiv | Krishna | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Auspicious; Lord Shiva | Dark; black |
| Origin | Sanskrit | sanskrit |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | SHIV | KRISH-nuh |
| Syllables | 1 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1984 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2024 (92) | 2007 (85) |
| In 2025 | 92 | 0 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Shiv | Krishna |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 505 | 339 |
| 2010s | 719 | 673 |
| 2000s | 627 | 655 |
| 1990s | 291 | 346 |
| 1980s | 51 | 152 |
| 1970s | 0 | 162 |
| 1960s | 0 | 53 |
| 1950s | 0 | 5 |
Shiv names Lord Shiva and means “auspicious” or “benign.”
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.
Shiv is more popular than Krishna today: about 92 US babies were given the name Shiv in 2025, compared with 0 named Krishna.
Shiv means Auspicious; Lord Shiva (Sanskrit origin), while Krishna means Dark; black (sanskrit origin).
In US records, Shiv first appears in 1984 and Krishna in 0, so Krishna has the longer recorded history.