Find out how popular the last name Chari is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Chari.

Chari, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Chari surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Chari in America

Chari is the 48628th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Chari surname appeared 434 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Chari.

We can also compare 2010 data for Chari to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Chari

The surname Chari has its origins in India, specifically in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. It is believed to have emerged during the 16th century or earlier. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "charai," which means "wanderer" or "nomad."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Chari can be found in the ancient text "Ain-i-Akbari," written during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. This text mentions the Chari community as being part of the pastoral nomadic groups in the Deccan region.

In the 17th century, the Chari surname appeared in various local administrative records and land registries in the regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Some of these records mention Chari families as landowners and agriculturists.

The name Chari is also associated with several historical figures and notable personalities. One such figure was Chari Govind Rao (1714-1788), a prominent military leader and commander in the Maratha Empire under the Peshwa rulers.

Another notable individual with the Chari surname was Chari Lingayya (1804-1868), a renowned scholar and poet from Karnataka, who wrote extensively in the Kannada language and contributed to the literary and cultural renaissance of the region during the 19th century.

In the 20th century, Chari Narayanaswami (1892-1968) was a distinguished mathematician and educator from Tamil Nadu, who made significant contributions to the field of number theory and held prestigious academic positions in India and abroad.

The Chari surname has also been associated with various place names in India. For instance, the village of Charikhurd in Maharashtra and the town of Charigaon in Karnataka are believed to have derived their names from the Chari community that once inhabited these areas.

Throughout history, the Chari surname has been recorded with slight variations in spelling, such as Chary, Chhary, and Chari. However, these variations are primarily due to regional linguistic differences and transliteration from various Indian scripts.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Chari

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Chari.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Chari was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Chari has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Chari was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Chari, please contact us.

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