Chandrika
A feminine name with Sanskrit roots, meaning "moon, moonlight".
Name Census estimates that about 148 living Americans carry the first name Chandrika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chandrika today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chandrika births was 1972 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chandrika. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Chandrika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
148
~ 1 in 2,315,908 Americans
Peak year
1972
27 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2002 SSA rank
#15,917
Tracked since 1968
Census
Chandrika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,287 people with the first name Chandrika, which placed it at #10,397 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
#10,397
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chandrika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chandrika is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and White (2.4%). 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 Chandrika 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 Chandrika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.2% · 1,084
- Black or African American9.8% · 126
- White2.4% · 31
- Two or more races2.3% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Chandrika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chandrika from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 70 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chandrika 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 Chandrika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chandrikas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chandrika
The name Chandrika is a Sanskrit name, originating from ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "chandra," meaning moon, and "ika," a diminutive suffix. Therefore, the name Chandrika translates to "little moon" or "moonbeam."
In Hindu mythology, Chandrika is also a name associated with the goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity. The name is mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, including the Vedas and the Puranas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chandrika can be found in the Rig Veda, one of the oldest Hindu scriptures dating back to around 1500 BCE. In the Rig Veda, Chandrika is mentioned as a minor goddess, often associated with the moon and its radiant beauty.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chandrika. One of the earliest recorded was Chandrika, an Indian poet and scholar who lived in the 7th century CE. She is known for her contributions to Sanskrit literature and her work in the field of grammar.
Another notable Chandrika was a 10th-century Indian queen who ruled the Chola Empire in South India. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of Hindu temples and institutions.
In more recent history, Chandrika Kumaratunga was the former President of Sri Lanka, serving from 1994 to 2005. She was the first female president of the country and played a significant role in the peace process with the Tamil Tigers.
Chandrika Prasad Sahu was an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived in the early 20th century. She was a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement and worked towards the upliftment of women and the abolition of social evils.
Chandrika Banerjee Divakaruni is a contemporary Indian-American author and poet. Born in 1956, she is known for her works exploring the experiences of South Asian immigrants in the United States, often focusing on themes of cultural identity and women's issues.
People
Chandrika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chandrika 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
Chandrika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chandrika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 148 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chandrika 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 2,315,908 US residents.
Is Chandrika a common name?
We classify Chandrika as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 161 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chandrika most popular?
The single biggest year for Chandrika was 1972, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chandrika is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chandrika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,287 people with the name Chandrika, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,397 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 Chandrika 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 Chandrika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chandrika leans strongly female. 1,233 people counted with this name were female (96.3%), compared with 48 male bearers (3.7%). 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 Chandrika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chandrika is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and White (2.4%). 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 Chandrika most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Chandrika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (1,084 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 Chandrika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chandrika a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chandrika 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 Chandrika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chandrika 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 Chandrika 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 are named Chandrika?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Chandrika on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.