Charda
A feminine name representing a character in the Sanskrit Puranas and epics.
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Charda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charda today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charda births was 1986 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charda. 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
1986
20 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
1996 SSA rank
#13,913
Tracked since 1985
Census
Charda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 140 people with the first name Charda, which placed it at #47,034 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
#47,034
National first-name rank
People counted
140
140 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charda is Black at 85.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Charda 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 Charda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.0% · 119
- White7.1% · 10
- Two or more races3.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 2
Popularity
Charda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charda from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 75 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Charda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charda 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 Charda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chardas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Charda
The name Charda has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, tracing back to the Vedic period around 1500-500 BCE in the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "chardana," which means "to vomit" or "to discharge." This somewhat unflattering etymology suggests that the name might have initially been used to describe someone who was prone to vomiting or suffered from digestive issues.
In the epic Hindu scripture, the Mahabharata, there is a minor character named Chardana, who was a warrior in the army of the Pandava prince Arjuna. This textual reference from around 400 BCE is one of the earliest recorded instances of the name's use.
The name gained more widespread popularity during the medieval period in India, particularly among certain Hindu communities. One notable bearer of the name was Charda Devi, a 12th-century Hindu queen and the wife of King Prithviraj Chauhan, a famous ruler of the Chauhan dynasty.
Another historical figure with this name was Charda Singh, a 17th-century Rajput warrior and military commander who served under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. He was known for his bravery and leadership in various battles against the Maratha empire.
In more recent times, Charda Bhagat was a prominent Indian social reformer and activist from the early 20th century. Born in 1885, she fought for women's rights and advocated for the upliftment of underprivileged communities in India.
Charda Moudou was a famous Senegalese writer and poet from the mid-20th century. Born in 1924, he was a leading figure in the Negritude literary movement and is celebrated for his works that explored themes of African identity and cultural heritage.
While the name Charda has its roots in ancient Sanskrit, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions over time, particularly in parts of South Asia and Africa.
People
Charda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charda 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
Charda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charda 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 Charda a common name?
We classify Charda 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, 123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charda most popular?
The single biggest year for Charda was 1986, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charda is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 140 people with the name Charda, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,034 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 Charda 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 Charda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charda leans strongly female. 135 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Charda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charda is Black at 85.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Charda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Charda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (119 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 Charda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charda 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 Charda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charda 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 Charda 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 Charda?
Want to know how many people have the name Charda? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.