Xandra
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "defender of man".
Name Census estimates that about 499 living Americans carry the first name Xandra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Xandra today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Xandra births was 2004 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Xandra. 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
499
~ 1 in 686,882 Americans
Peak year
2004
33 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,514
Tracked since 1948
Census
Xandra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 578 people with the first name Xandra, which placed it at #18,590 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
#18,590
National first-name rank
People counted
578
578 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Xandra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xandra is White at 49.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.6%) and Black (11.2%). 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 Xandra 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 Xandra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.1% · 284
- Hispanic or Latino26.6% · 154
- Black or African American11.2% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 39
- Two or more races4.8% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 8
Popularity
Xandra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Xandra from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 216 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
Xandra 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 Xandra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Xandras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Xandra
The name Xandra is a feminine given name with Greek origins, derived from the ancient Greek name Alexandra, which translates to "defender of mankind." The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 4th century BC, when it was borne by Alexandra of Macedon, a princess and the daughter of King Philip II of Macedon.
Xandra is a shortened form of Alexandra, and its use as a standalone name is believed to have emerged in the late 19th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Xandra was in 1892, when it was given to Xandra Siemens, a German industrialist and the daughter of industrialist Carl von Siemens.
The name Xandra gained popularity in the 20th century, particularly in Europe and parts of North America. One notable bearer of the name was Xandra Kalman, an American actress born in 1909, who appeared in several films during the 1930s and 1940s.
In ancient Greek mythology, Alexandra was one of the epithets of the goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus and the queen of the gods. This connection to mythology and its meaning as a "defender" may have contributed to the name's enduring appeal.
Other notable historical figures named Xandra include Xandra Bingley, an English artist and author born in 1923, who was known for her children's books and illustrations. Additionally, Xandra Strelnikova, a Russian-born French artist born in 1925, gained recognition for her abstract expressionist paintings.
Another notable bearer of the name was Xandra Kayden, an American adult film actress and director born in 1986, who became a prominent figure in the adult entertainment industry during the early 2000s.
Throughout history, the name Xandra has been a variation of the more common Alexandra, but it has also stood on its own as a unique and distinctive name, often associated with strong and remarkable individuals from various fields.
People
Xandra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Xandra as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with X
Other first names starting with X with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Xandra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Xandra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 499 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Xandra 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 686,882 US residents.
Is Xandra a common name?
We classify Xandra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 514 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Xandra most popular?
The single biggest year for Xandra was 2004, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Xandra is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Xandra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 578 people with the name Xandra, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,590 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 Xandra 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 Xandra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Xandra appears almost entirely female. Of the 576 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Xandra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xandra is White at 49.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.6%) and Black (11.2%). 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 Xandra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Xandra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.1% (284 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 Xandra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Xandra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Xandra 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 Xandra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Xandra 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 Xandra 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 Xandra as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.