Chandy
A masculine name from Sanskrit meaning "moon" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 85 living Americans carry the first name Chandy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chandy today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chandy births was 1984 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chandy. 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 Chandy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
85
~ 1 in 4,032,404 Americans
Peak year
1984
10 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1995 SSA rank
#9,742
Tracked since 1970
Census
Chandy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 338 people with the first name Chandy, which placed it at #27,177 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
#27,177
National first-name rank
People counted
338
338 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
57.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chandy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chandy is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.1%. The next largest groups are White (28.7%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Chandy 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 Chandy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander57.1% · 193
- White28.7% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 18
- Black or African American4.4% · 15
- Two or more races3.6% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Chandy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chandy from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 52 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Chandy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chandy 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 Chandy 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 Chandy
The name Chandy is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit word "Chandan," which means "sandalwood." It has its roots in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the regions of South India, where sandalwood has been highly revered for its fragrance and medicinal properties.
During the ancient times, sandalwood was considered sacred and was used in various religious and cultural ceremonies. The name Chandy might have been derived from the association with this revered plant, possibly referring to someone who worked with sandalwood or traded in it.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chandy can be found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a warrior. This suggests that the name has been in use for several centuries, dating back to the ancient Indian civilization.
In the 5th century CE, a famous Buddhist scholar and traveler named Chandragupta Maurya is believed to have borne the name Chandy. He is renowned for his journey to China and his contribution to the spread of Buddhism in the region.
Another notable historical figure with the name Chandy was Chandragupta Vikramaditya, an emperor of the Gupta Empire in India during the 4th century CE. He was known for his military conquests and the revival of Hinduism during his reign.
In the 12th century, a prominent Hindu philosopher and scholar named Madhavacharya, also known as Chandy Madhava, made significant contributions to the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. His works continue to be studied and revered by scholars to this day.
During the colonial era in India, the name Chandy was sometimes used by members of the Indian Christian community, particularly in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. One notable figure was Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair Chandy, an Indian judge and politician who served as a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council in the early 20th century.
Throughout history, the name Chandy has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including warriors, scholars, philosophers, and politicians. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Indian civilization, where it was deeply rooted in cultural and religious traditions.
People
Chandy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chandy 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
Chandy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chandy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 85 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chandy 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 4,032,404 US residents.
Is Chandy a common name?
We classify Chandy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chandy most popular?
The single biggest year for Chandy was 1984, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chandy is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chandy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 338 people with the name Chandy, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,177 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 Chandy 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 Chandy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chandy on both sides of the split. Of the 342 people counted with this name, 113 were male (33.0%) and 229 were female (67.0%). 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 Chandy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chandy is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.1%. The next largest groups are White (28.7%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Chandy most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Chandy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.1% (193 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 Chandy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chandy a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chandy 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 Chandy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chandy 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 Chandy 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 have the name Chandy?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Chandy on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.