Explore the Family Name Pandit

The meaning of Pandit

Indian (northern states): Brahmin name, from Sanskrit paṇḍita ‘scholar, learned man’. Compare Pandey. Some characteristic forenames: Indian Vijay, Milind, Ashok, Ajay, Anand, Anurag, Baburao, Benoy, Bharti, Hemant, Himanshu, Pradeep.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Pandit in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Pandit increased in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Pandit was ranked 30,120th in terms of frequency, but by 2010, it had climbed to the 21,068th position, representing a 30.05% increase in rank. The count of individuals with this surname also rose from 734 in 2000 to 1,247 in 2010, marking a significant 69.89% surge. Furthermore, the proportion of people named Pandit per 100,000 individuals saw an increase of 55.56%, moving from 0.27 in 2000 to 0.42 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#30,120	#21,068	30.05%
Count	734	1,247	69.89%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.42	55.56%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pandit

With regard to the ethnic identity associated with the surname Pandit, changes were also noted between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The number of Asian/Pacific Islanders with the Pandit surname grew by 2.21%, increasing from 91.96% in 2000 to 93.99% in 2010. However, a decrease was observed among those identifying as two or more races and those identifying as white, with declines of 51.15% and 18.53% respectively. While there was no representation of the Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native groups in 2000, by 2010, a minimal 0.56% of those with the Pandit surname identified as Hispanic. The other two ethnic groups remained unrepresented.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	91.96%	93.99%	2.21%
Two or More Races	4.77%	2.33%	-51.15%
White	2.86%	2.33%	-18.53%
Hispanic	0%	0.56%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%