Chanita
A feminine name of Thai origin meaning "heavenly, moon".
Name Census estimates that about 371 living Americans carry the first name Chanita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chanita today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chanita births was 1981 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chanita. 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
371
~ 1 in 923,866 Americans
Peak year
1981
26 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1994 SSA rank
#12,060
Tracked since 1961
Census
Chanita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 393 people with the first name Chanita, which placed it at #24,486 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
#24,486
National first-name rank
People counted
393
393 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chanita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chanita is Black at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.7%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Chanita 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 Chanita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.1% · 311
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.7% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 13
- White3.1% · 12
- Two or more races1.8% · 7
Popularity
Chanita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chanita from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 167 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chanita 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 Chanita 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 Chanita
The name Chanita is derived from the Sanskrit word "Chandra," which means "moon" or "illustrious." It has its origins in Hinduism and ancient Indian culture, where the moon was revered as a celestial body and associated with beauty, serenity, and femininity.
In ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, the moon is personified as a deity named Chandra or Soma. The name Chanita may have been used as a feminine form of this deity's name, reflecting the lunar connection and the veneration of the moon in Indian mythology.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chanita can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In this epic, Chanita is mentioned as the name of a celestial nymph or apsara, further solidifying the name's association with celestial beauty and grace.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Chanita. One such figure was Chanita Devi, a 16th-century Hindu queen and poet from the Mughal Empire. She was known for her literary works and her patronage of the arts and culture during her reign.
Another influential figure was Chanita Gokhale, an Indian author and literary critic born in 1938. She is renowned for her contributions to contemporary Indian literature and her advocacy for women's rights and social issues.
In the field of music, Chanita Bhatia, a renowned Indian classical vocalist born in 1934, has made a significant impact. She is celebrated for her mastery of the Khayal style of singing and her efforts in preserving and promoting Indian classical music.
Chanita Rodrigues, born in 1935, was a pioneering Indian actress and dancer. She was known for her performances in both Hindi and Marathi films, as well as her contributions to the revival of traditional Indian dance forms.
Lastly, Chanita Mukherjee, born in 1938, was a prominent Indian journalist and writer. She is remembered for her insightful reporting on social and political issues, as well as her efforts in promoting literacy and education for women in India.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Chanita throughout history, reflecting the name's enduring presence and its association with beauty, grace, and cultural significance in the Indian subcontinent.
People
Chanita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chanita 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
Chanita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chanita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 371 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chanita 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 923,866 US residents.
Is Chanita a common name?
We classify Chanita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 404 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chanita most popular?
The single biggest year for Chanita was 1981, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chanita is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chanita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 393 people with the name Chanita, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,486 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 Chanita 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 Chanita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chanita appears almost entirely female. Of the 396 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Chanita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chanita is Black at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.7%) and Hispanic (3.3%). 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 Chanita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chanita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (311 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 Chanita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chanita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chanita 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 Chanita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chanita 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 Chanita 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 Chanita?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.