Chakira
A feminine name of Hindu origin meaning "all-powerful" or "the wheel".
Name Census estimates that about 221 living Americans carry the first name Chakira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chakira today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chakira births was 1992 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chakira. 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.
People living today
221
~ 1 in 1,550,925 Americans
Peak year
1992
16 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2007 SSA rank
#11,830
Tracked since 1977
Census
Chakira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 245 people with the first name Chakira, which placed it at #33,672 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#33,672
National first-name rank
People counted
245
245 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chakira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chakira is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and White (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Chakira described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Chakira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.0% · 174
- Hispanic or Latino19.2% · 47
- White4.1% · 10
- Two or more races4.1% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 4
Popularity
Chakira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chakira from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Chakira remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chakira 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 Chakira 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 Chakira
The name Chakira has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated on the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word "chakra," which means "wheel" or "circle." The name is typically associated with Hindu culture and traditions.
In ancient Hindu mythology, the chakra is a symbolic representation of the energy centers or vortices within the human body. These chakras are believed to be located along the spine and are associated with different aspects of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. The name Chakira may have been given to individuals in honor of this concept or as a way to bestow blessings upon them.
One of the earliest known references to the name Chakira can be found in the ancient Hindu text, the Mahabharata, which is an epic narrative that dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In the text, there is a character named Chakira, who was a skilled warrior and archer. However, it is unclear whether this character was a real historical figure or a fictional one.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Chakira. One such person was Chakira Devi, a prominent Indian poet and writer who lived in the 16th century CE. She was known for her contributions to the literary tradition of Braj Bhasha, a dialect of Hindi that was popular during the medieval period in northern India.
Another notable figure was Chakira Mukherjee, an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule in the early 20th century. She was born in 1887 and played an active role in various protests and campaigns organized by the Indian National Congress.
In more recent times, Chakira Thakur was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer who specialized in the Kathak dance form. She was born in 1930 and received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of Indian classical dance.
Chakira Singh was an Indian politician and social activist who served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, from 1986 to 1992. She was born in 1932 and was actively involved in various social and political movements, particularly those related to women's rights and empowerment.
Lastly, Chakira Devi was a prominent Indian environmentalist and social worker who dedicated her life to promoting sustainable living and advocating for the rights of marginalized communities. She was born in 1945 and received several awards and honors for her efforts, including the prestigious Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.
People
Chakira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chakira 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
Chakira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chakira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 221 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chakira 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 1,550,925 US residents.
Is Chakira a common name?
We classify Chakira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chakira most popular?
The single biggest year for Chakira was 1992, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chakira is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chakira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 245 people with the name Chakira, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,672 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Chakira in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Chakira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chakira leans strongly female. 237 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Chakira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chakira is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and White (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Chakira most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chakira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.0% (174 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Chakira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chakira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chakira 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.
Is Chakira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chakira in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Chakira can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Chakira?
You can see how many people have the name Chakira on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.