Simara
A Hebrew feminine name meaning "she guards" or "guardian angel".
Name Census estimates that about 148 living Americans carry the first name Simara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Simara today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Simara births was 2005 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Simara. 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
148
~ 1 in 2,315,908 Americans
Peak year
2005
15 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,260
Tracked since 1986
Census
Simara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 199 people with the first name Simara, which placed it at #38,518 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
#38,518
National first-name rank
People counted
199
199 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
31.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Simara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Simara is Hispanic at 31.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and White (19.6%). 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 Simara 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 Simara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino31.7% · 63
- Black or African American31.2% · 62
- White19.6% · 39
- Two or more races11.1% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
Popularity
Simara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Simara from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 74 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Simara 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 Simara 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 Simara
The name Simara is believed to have its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest and most influential languages of the Indian subcontinent. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit words "sima" meaning "boundary" or "limit," and "ra" meaning "to give" or "to bestow." Thus, the name Simara could be interpreted as "one who bestows boundaries" or "one who sets limits."
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, the name Simara is sometimes associated with the concept of self-control and discipline. It is believed to have been a name given to individuals who were considered to possess a strong sense of restraint and the ability to set boundaries for themselves and others.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Simara can be found in the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic poem dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In this ancient text, Simara is mentioned as the name of a minor character, a warrior who fought alongside the Pandavas in the great battle of Kurukshetra.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Simara. One of the most famous was Simara Chowdhury, a Bengali poet and philosopher who lived in the 16th century. He is renowned for his contributions to the development of Bengali literature and his influential philosophical works.
Another significant figure was Simara Begum, a 17th-century Mughal princess and the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. She is known for her patronage of the arts and her role in the construction of several notable architectural landmarks, including the Jama Masjid in Delhi.
In the 19th century, Simara Devi was a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement. She was a social reformer and educator who worked tirelessly to promote the education of women and fought against the practice of child marriage.
Simara Kapoor was a notable Indian actress of the 20th century, known for her performances in both Hindi and Bengali films. She was born in 1924 and had a successful career spanning several decades, appearing in numerous critically acclaimed movies.
Finally, Simara Khan was a Pakistani cricketer who played for the national team in the 1990s. Born in 1968, she was a talented all-rounder and was part of the Pakistani squad that won the Women's Cricket World Cup in 1997.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Simara, a name with deep roots in the ancient Sanskrit language and a rich cultural heritage.
People
Simara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Simara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Simara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Simara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 148 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Simara 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 2,315,908 US residents.
Is Simara a common name?
We classify Simara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 150 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Simara most popular?
The single biggest year for Simara was 2005, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Simara is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Simara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 199 people with the name Simara, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,518 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 Simara 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 Simara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Simara appears almost entirely female. Of the 194 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 Simara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Simara is Hispanic at 31.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and White (19.6%). 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 Simara most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Simara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.7% (63 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 Simara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Simara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Simara 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 Simara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Simara 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 Simara 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 Americans are named Simara?
See how many people share the name Simara on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.