Kartikeya
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- kar-tee-KAY-ya
- Origin
- Sanskrit
- UK rank, 2025
- #5,065 for boys
- US rank, 2025
- #6,442 for boys
- Style
- New arrival
Kartikeya is a boys' name of Sanskrit origin, meaning “of the Krittikas (the Pleiades)”. In 2025 it ranked 5,065th for boys in the UK (3 babies) and 6,442nd for boys in the US (13 babies).
What does Kartikeya mean?
Sanskrit
“of the Krittikas (the Pleiades)”
Kartikeya, also called Skanda or Murugan, is the Hindu god of war and a son of Shiva, raised by the six Krittikas.
Is Kartikeya a girl's or a boy's name?
Kartikeya is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 boys in the UK and 13 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Kartikeya in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 5,065th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 3 about 1 in 100,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 3 boys in the UK were named Kartikeya, making it the 5,065th most popular name for boys. Its busiest year was 2023, with 3 boys.
Among boys in 2025, it was 4,974th in England and Wales.
Kartikeya in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | #5,065 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 3 | #5,193 |
| 2022 | 1 | #6,413 |
How popular is Kartikeya in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 6,442nd among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 13 about 1 in 130,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 13 boys in the US were named Kartikeya, making it the 6,442nd most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 9,548th. It first appears in the records in 2006.
2025 had the most boys named Kartikeya of any year since it first appeared, in 2006.
Half of all the boys named Kartikeya in the US since 1880 were born between 2013 and 2021, the years shaded on the chart below.
Kartikeya in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13 | #6,442 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 6 | #10,815 |
| 2022 | 5 | #12,322 |
| 2021 | 8 | #8,820 |
| 2020 | 7 | #9,548 |
| 2019 | 7 | #9,750 |
| 2018 | 7 | #9,664 |
| 2017 | 6 | #10,770 |
| 2016 | 9 | #8,141 |
| 2015 | 6 | #10,638 |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 5 | #12,129 |
| 2012 | 6 | #10,763 |
| 2011 | 6 | #10,801 |
| 2010 | 7 | #9,686 |
| 2009 | 0 | – |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 0 | – |
| 2006 | 7 | #9,579 |
Nicknames for Kartikeya
- Kartik 9 boys in the UK in 2025
Names like Kartikeya
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Krish, Bhavya, Aviraj, Krishna, Aarav, Shivansh, Keshav, Kavi, Dhruv, Atharva, Shiv, Viraj
Names related to Kartikeya
More Sanskrit names
Maya, Bodhi, Arya, Lila, Arjun, Rohan, Kali, Aryan, Opal, Arjan, Vihaan, Aadhya, Avyaan, Ishaan, Siya, Leena
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Kartikeya: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kartikeya, updated 20 October 2026.