Chari
A feminine given name meaning "light" or "burn" in Sanskrit.
Name Census estimates that about 998 living Americans carry the first name Chari. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chari today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chari births was 1960 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chari. 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
998
~ 1 in 343,441 Americans
Peak year
1960
41 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2020 SSA rank
#10,434
Tracked since 1941
Popularity
Chari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chari from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 315 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chari 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 Chari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Michigan, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Chari, while New York, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chari
The name Chari has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest languages in the world, dating back to around 1500 BCE. It is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit word "char," which means "to move" or "to wander." The name was likely given to individuals who were nomadic or had a wandering lifestyle.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, there are references to individuals with the name Chari. One of the earliest recorded examples is from the Mahabharata, an epic poem dating back to around the 8th century BCE, where a sage named Chari is mentioned.
During the medieval period in India, the name Chari was often associated with members of the Brahmin caste, who were known for their scholarship and spiritual pursuits. One notable individual with this name was Chari Datta, a 12th-century Hindu philosopher and author from Bengal, whose works had a significant impact on the development of Indian logic and epistemology.
In the 16th century, Chari Venkatacharya, a prominent scholar and teacher from South India, played a crucial role in reviving and spreading the teachings of the Dvaita school of Vedanta philosophy. His contributions to the field of Hindu philosophy and his influential works, such as the Nyayasudhā, have been widely studied and celebrated.
Another historical figure with the name Chari was Chari Krishniah, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer from the 17th century. He made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and authored several treatises on topics such as spherical trigonometry and planetary movements.
In more recent times, Chari Pramadavaraprasad, a 19th-century Indian scholar and linguist, is notable for his work in preserving and promoting the Telugu language and literature. He authored numerous works, including dictionaries and grammar books, which played a crucial role in the preservation of the Telugu language.
While the name Chari has its roots in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu traditions, it has also been adapted and used in various cultures and regions over time, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation.
People
Chari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chari 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
Chari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 998 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chari 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 343,441 US residents.
Is Chari a common name?
We classify Chari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,202 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chari most popular?
The single biggest year for Chari was 1960, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chari is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Chari a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chari 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.
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.