Chalonda
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from "chaledon" meaning chalcedony.
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Chalonda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chalonda today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chalonda births was 1972 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chalonda. 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
117
~ 1 in 2,929,524 Americans
Peak year
1972
13 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1989 SSA rank
#11,071
Tracked since 1970
Census
Chalonda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 150 people with the first name Chalonda, which placed it at #45,340 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
#45,340
National first-name rank
People counted
150
150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chalonda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chalonda is Black at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Chalonda 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 Chalonda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.0% · 144
- White2.7% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Popularity
Chalonda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chalonda from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 88 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Chalonda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chalonda 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 Chalonda 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 Chalonda
The name Chalonda has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, spoken in the region of Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 3500 BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian words "cha" meaning "life" and "londa" meaning "blossom" or "flower," suggesting a meaning of "blossoming life" or "flourishing existence."
This name was initially used by the Sumerian people, who were among the earliest civilizations to develop writing and create some of the earliest known literary works. While there are no direct references to the name Chalonda in surviving Sumerian texts, it is possible that it was used during that time period.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Chalonda can be traced back to the ancient kingdom of Akkad, which ruled over Mesopotamia from around 2350 BCE to 2150 BCE. A few clay tablets from this period have been discovered bearing the name Chalonda, though the individuals they refer to are unknown.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Chalonda was a priestess who lived in the city of Ur during the reign of King Shulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur, around 2100 BCE. She is mentioned in cuneiform inscriptions as being a prominent member of the temple clergy.
In the 7th century BCE, a woman named Chalonda was recorded as being a successful merchant and trader in the city of Babylon. Her name appears in several business contracts and trade records from that time.
During the Hellenistic period, around 300 BCE, a Greek philosopher named Chalonda from the city of Ephesus is mentioned in some historical texts as being a student of the famous philosopher Epicurus.
In the 2nd century CE, a woman named Chalonda was a renowned poet and writer in the Roman Empire. Some of her works, though fragmentary, have survived and are studied by classical scholars.
Around the 5th century CE, a Christian martyr named Chalonda is recorded in some early church histories as being executed for her faith during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Chalonda, though records from ancient times are often incomplete or lost. The name's origins in the ancient Sumerian language and its early use in Mesopotamia suggest a rich and fascinating history behind this name.
People
Chalonda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chalonda 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
Chalonda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chalonda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chalonda 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 2,929,524 US residents.
Is Chalonda a common name?
We classify Chalonda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chalonda most popular?
The single biggest year for Chalonda was 1972, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chalonda is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chalonda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 150 people with the name Chalonda, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,340 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 Chalonda 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 Chalonda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chalonda appears almost entirely female. Of the 147 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Chalonda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chalonda is Black at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Chalonda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chalonda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.0% (144 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 Chalonda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chalonda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chalonda 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 Chalonda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chalonda 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 Chalonda 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 common is the name Chalonda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.