Chandra is a given name with origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India. The name is derived from the word "Chandra" meaning "moon" or "luminous". It is believed to have been in use as a personal name since the Vedic period, which dates back to around 1500-500 BCE.

The name Chandra appears in various Hindu scriptures and texts, most notably in the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. In the Rig Veda, one of the four canonical sacred texts, Chandra is depicted as the deity or personification of the moon.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Chandra was Chandra Gupta Maurya, who founded the Maurya Empire in ancient India around 321-297 BCE. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential rulers in Indian history and played a crucial role in unifying much of the Indian subcontinent.

Another notable figure with the name Chandra was Chandra Shekhar Azad, an Indian revolutionary who lived from 1906 to 1931. He was a key figure in the Indian independence movement and actively participated in the struggle against British colonial rule.

In the realm of literature, Chandra Bannerjee Divakaruni, an Indian-American author born in 1956, has gained recognition for her works exploring the experiences of South Asian immigrants in the United States.

Chandra Wickramasinghe, a Sri Lankan mathematician and astronomer born in 1939, is best known for his work on the panspermia hypothesis, which suggests that life exists throughout the universe and is distributed by comets and asteroids.

Chandra Bahadur Dangi, a Nepali man born in 1939, was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the shortest adult human ever documented, standing at just 54.6 centimeters (1 foot 9.5 inches) tall.

The name Chandra has been used across various cultures and regions influenced by Sanskrit and Indian traditions, including Southeast Asia, where it has been embraced as a personal name by people of different faiths and backgrounds.