Charita
A feminine name derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "grace" or "virtue".
Name Census estimates that about 1,241 living Americans carry the first name Charita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charita today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charita births was 1981 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charita. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 276,192 Americans
Peak year
1981
65 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2009 SSA rank
#17,867
Tracked since 1941
Census
Charita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,332 people with the first name Charita, which placed it at #10,129 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
#10,129
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,332 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charita is Black at 70.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (13.4%) and White (9.5%). 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 Charita 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 Charita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.9% · 944
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.4% · 179
- White9.5% · 126
- Two or more races3.0% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 14
Popularity
Charita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charita from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 473 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
Charita 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 Charita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Charitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Charita, while Florida, Alabama, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Charita
The name Charita has its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages of the Indian subcontinent, dating back several millennia. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "chara," meaning "moving" or "wandering," and is often associated with the concept of a spiritual or philosophical journey.
In ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, the name Charita can be found in various contexts, often referring to individuals who embarked on a quest for spiritual enlightenment or self-discovery. Some scholars have also linked the name to the concept of "charitra," which means "character" or "conduct" in Sanskrit.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Charita can be traced back to the 6th century BCE in the epic poem Mahabharata. In this ancient text, Charita is mentioned as the name of a sage who imparted wisdom and guidance to the Pandava princes during their period of exile.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Charita. For example, Charita Krishnammachary (1899-1992) was an Indian philosopher and scholar who made significant contributions to the field of Advaita Vedanta, a branch of Hindu philosophy.
Another prominent figure was Charita Mishra (1918-2007), an Indian freedom fighter and social activist who played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement and worked tirelessly for the empowerment of women and marginalized communities.
In the realm of literature, Charita Bhattacharya (1923-2005) was a renowned Bengali writer and novelist who explored themes of human relationships, societal norms, and the complexities of the human experience in her works.
Charita Sahu (1924-2002) was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who dedicated her life to preserving and promoting the traditional dance forms of Odissi and Chhau. Her contributions to the cultural heritage of India were widely recognized and celebrated.
Charita Majumdar (1930-2022) was a distinguished Indian scientist and academic who made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics. She was the first woman to be appointed as the director of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kolkata.
These are just a few examples of individuals who bore the name Charita throughout history, each leaving a lasting impact in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human culture and knowledge.
People
Charita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charita 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
Charita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,241 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charita 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 276,192 US residents.
Is Charita a common name?
We classify Charita as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charita most popular?
The single biggest year for Charita was 1981, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charita is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,332 people with the name Charita, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,129 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 Charita 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 Charita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charita appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,330 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Charita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charita is Black at 70.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (13.4%) and White (9.5%). 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 Charita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Charita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.9% (944 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 Charita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charita 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 Charita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charita 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 Charita 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 Charita?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.