Soundra
An Indian feminine name derived from Sanskrit meaning "beautiful, attractive".
Name Census estimates that about 96 living Americans carry the first name Soundra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Soundra today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Soundra births was 1944 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Soundra. 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
- • The typical person named Soundra is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Soundras were born before 1964.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Soundra. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
96
~ 1 in 3,570,358 Americans
Peak year
1944
15 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1970 SSA rank
#9,147
Tracked since 1943
Census
Soundra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138 people with the first name Soundra, which placed it at #47,373 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
#47,373
National first-name rank
People counted
138
138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Soundra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Soundra is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Black (21.7%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Soundra 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 Soundra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.7% · 92
- Black or African American21.7% · 30
- Two or more races6.5% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 3
Popularity
Soundra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Soundra from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 75 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Soundra 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 Soundra 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 Soundra
The given name Soundra has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient language of the Indian subcontinent dating back over three millennia. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit words "sundara" meaning beautiful, and "aara" meaning form or shape. The name thus translates to "beautiful form" or "beautiful shape".
Soundra first appeared as a personal name in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, which predate the Common Era. In these sacred writings, the name was often used to refer to deities or celestial beings celebrated for their beauty and grace.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Soundra is found in the Mahabharata, the epic Sanskrit narrative composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE. Here, Soundra is the name of a minor character, a beautiful princess from the kingdom of Virata.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Soundra. In the 7th century CE, Soundra Muni was a renowned Indian philosopher and scholar who made significant contributions to the study of logic and epistemology. His works, such as the "Soundra-Nanda-Vakya", were highly influential in the development of Indian philosophical thought.
Another prominent figure named Soundra was Soundra Pandita, a 10th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer. He is credited with writing the influential treatise "Soundra Siddhanta", which advanced the understanding of astronomy and celestial movements in ancient India.
In the realm of literature, Soundra Kavi was a celebrated 12th-century Indian poet and playwright. His most famous work, the Sanskrit play "Soundra-Nanda", is a romantic tragedy that has been widely studied and performed over the centuries.
Moving forward in time, Soundra Bai (1828-1892) was a renowned Indian classical dancer and courtesan from the erstwhile princely state of Tanjore. She is credited with reviving and popularizing the Bharatanatyam dance form in the 19th century.
Finally, Soundra Shankar Rajaram (1900-1972) was a prominent Indian freedom fighter and politician who played an active role in India's independence movement against British colonial rule. He later served as a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted India's constitution.
People
Soundra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Soundra 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
Soundra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Soundra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 96 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Soundra 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 3,570,358 US residents.
Is Soundra a common name?
We classify Soundra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 153 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Soundra most popular?
The single biggest year for Soundra was 1944, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Soundra is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Soundra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138 people with the name Soundra, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,373 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 Soundra 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 Soundra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Soundra leans strongly female. 134 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Soundra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Soundra is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Black (21.7%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Soundra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Soundra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (92 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 Soundra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Soundra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Soundra 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 Soundra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Soundra 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 Soundra 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 Soundra?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.