Chona
A feminine name of Filipino origin meaning "black beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 19 living Americans carry the first name Chona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chona today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chona births was 1972 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chona. 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 Chona. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
19
~ 1 in 18,039,702 Americans
Peak year
1972
8 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1973 SSA rank
#6,184
Tracked since 1915
Census
Chona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,047 people with the first name Chona, which placed it at #12,033 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
#12,033
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,047 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
89.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chona is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and White (3.1%). 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 Chona 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 Chona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander89.0% · 932
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 38
- White3.1% · 32
- Black or African American2.8% · 29
- Two or more races1.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Chona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chona from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 16 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chona 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 Chona 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 Chona
The given name Chona has its origins rooted in the Sanskrit language, with its earliest known roots tracing back to ancient India around the 5th century BCE. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "Chon," which means "to accumulate" or "to gather." It is believed to have been initially used as a name to signify abundance, prosperity, and the accumulation of wealth and knowledge.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, there are references to individuals bearing the name Chona, often depicted as wise sages or learned scholars. One notable mention is found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic dated around the 8th century BCE, where a character named Chona is portrayed as a respected teacher and spiritual guide.
The earliest recorded example of the name Chona can be traced back to the 3rd century BCE, when a Buddhist monk from India, known as Chona Thera, traveled to Sri Lanka and played a significant role in spreading the teachings of Buddhism in the region. He is revered as one of the pioneers of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and is considered an important figure in the island's cultural and religious history.
Throughout the centuries, the name Chona has been associated with several influential individuals. One such person was Chona Tenzin Gyatso, a prominent Tibetan Buddhist scholar and teacher who lived in the 16th century. He was renowned for his extensive knowledge of Buddhist philosophy and his contributions to the preservation of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
Another notable figure was Chona Singh, a Sikh warrior and military leader who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He played a crucial role in the defense of the Sikh community during the tumultuous times of the Mughal Empire and is remembered for his bravery and leadership.
In the realm of literature, Chona Bagchi was a renowned Bengali poet and writer who lived from 1870 to 1923. His literary works, which often explored themes of social injustice and human suffering, are considered seminal in the Bengali literary canon.
Lastly, Chona Saxena was an influential Indian film director and screenwriter who lived from 1928 to 2008. He was widely acclaimed for his artistic and thought-provoking movies, many of which tackled complex social and political issues in post-independence India.
People
Chona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chona 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
Chona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chona 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 18,039,702 US residents.
Is Chona a common name?
We classify Chona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 39.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 37 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chona most popular?
The single biggest year for Chona was 1972, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chona is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,047 people with the name Chona, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,033 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 Chona 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 Chona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chona appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,053 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 Chona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chona is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and White (3.1%). 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 Chona most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Chona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.0% (932 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 Chona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chona 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 Chona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chona 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 Chona 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 common is the name Chona?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Chona at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.