Chakara
A feminine Hindu name meaning "chakra" or "wheel" in Sanskrit.
Name Census estimates that about 73 living Americans carry the first name Chakara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chakara today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chakara births was 1989 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chakara. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Chakara. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
73
~ 1 in 4,695,265 Americans
Peak year
1989
12 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
1996 SSA rank
#13,901
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Chakara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chakara from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 41 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chakara by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Chakara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chakara
The given name Chakara has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India. It is believed to have emerged around the 5th century BCE, during the classical period of ancient Indian history. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "chakra," which means "wheel" or "circle," and is often associated with the concept of the cosmic cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution in Hindu philosophy.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Chakara can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. In this epic, Chakara is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava princes during the great Kurukshetra war. This suggests that the name was in use among the warrior class or Kshatriya caste during that time.
Throughout the centuries, the name Chakara has been borne by several notable individuals. One such person was Chakara Devi (born around 1050 CE), a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet from the Chalukya dynasty in present-day Karnataka, India. Her poetic works were widely celebrated and contributed significantly to the literary tradition of the time.
Another historical figure who bore the name Chakara was Chakara Pandit (1200-1275 CE), a celebrated mathematician and astronomer from the Yadava dynasty in present-day Maharashtra, India. His contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy were significant, and he is credited with developing new methods for calculating planetary positions and eclipse predictions.
In the 16th century, Chakara Bhatt (1500-1570 CE) was a prominent Hindu philosopher and scholar from the Vijayanagar Empire in present-day Karnataka. His works on Advaita Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy, were highly influential and widely studied across the Indian subcontinent.
Moving forward in time, Chakara Singh (1780-1845 CE) was a notable ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in the early 19th century. He is remembered for his efforts in promoting education, infrastructure development, and fostering cultural exchange within his kingdom.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Chakara, which has a rich heritage and deep-rooted connections to ancient Indian culture, literature, and philosophy.
People
Chakara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chakara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Chakara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chakara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 73 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chakara going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,695,265 US residents.
Is Chakara a common name?
We classify Chakara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 76 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chakara most popular?
The single biggest year for Chakara was 1989, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chakara is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Chakara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chakara in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.