Ānanda

Locally spelled Ananda in IN India, BR Brazil, US United States and 2 more, อนันต์ in TH Thailand and Anan in ID Indonesia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 23 languages in the etymology graph.

Ānanda is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name3 spellings in the group

  Also written Ánanda, Ananda

• Latvian given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Lithuania

  Languages: Latvian, Lithuanian

  Also written Ananda, Anandas

• Portuguese given name14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, India, United States, Argentina

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Ananda, Åñáñdà, Añandà, Ãnanda, Ananda̶

• Tamil given name18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Singapore

  Also written ஆனந்த், ஆனந்த, ആനന്ദ്, Ānand, Anand

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Ananda

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Ananda

2 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Ānanda is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In pi, Buddha’s attendant monk, famed for recalling the Buddha’s discourses; attained arahantship after the Buddha’s parinibbāna and took part in the First Convocation (DA.i.9ff.; Vin.ii.286; S.i.199–200).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, A yakkha to whom the Ānanda Cetiya at Bhoganagara was dedicated; the Buddha stayed there on his last journey and preached on the Four Great Authorities (D.ii.123-6; A.ii.107).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, The Buddha’s attendant monk, praised as foremost among bhikkhus in five respects; also asked to design the monks’ robe pattern (D.ii.144-5; A.ii.132; A.v.229; Vin.i.287).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, The Buddha’s cousin and attendant monk; present at Kusinārā, helped arrange the funeral, and later helped preserve the Dīgha Nikāya (D.ii.146; Vin.ii.288-9; DA.i.15).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

• In pi, Buddha’s attendant monk and chief interlocutor in many suttas; esp. Mahāparinibbāna and Mahānidāna (D. ii. 55 ff.; D. ii. 107 ff.; D. ii. 139 f.; A. iii. 132 f.).

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Ānanda mean, and where does it come from?

The Buddha’s attendant monk, famed for his memory and Dhamma exposition; consulted by many monks and laypeople, e.g. Recorded by Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol I (A-Dh).

Is Ānanda a male or female name?

Ānanda is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

Which countries have the most people named Ānanda?

Mondonomo estimates about 1.1 million people named Anand in India, more than in any other country we hold. After it come Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil and United States; the country table on this page ranks them.

How common is the name Ānanda?

In Brazil, the national register counted 17,323 people named Ānanda in 2022, about 1 in 12 thousand residents.

How common is Ānanda compared with other names?

In India, Ānanda is the 385th most common given name of 3,760,348 given names recorded there.