Chandra
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Meaning
moon; part of the name of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, astrophysicist and Nobel laureate known for the Chandrasekhar limit
The story
Chandra is Sanskrit for the moon, an ancient name used across India for both boys and girls, and in Hindu tradition the name of the moon god himself. Its scientific weight comes from Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the astrophysicist who as a young man calculated the mass limit beyond which a dying star cannot settle into a white dwarf, an insight mocked at first and vindicated with a Nobel Prize in 1983; NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, launched in 1999, now carries his nickname across the sky. In American records Chandra appeared in the 1940s and had its strongest run from the 1960s through the 1990s, decades when its sound sat comfortably beside Sandra and Sondra, then quieted after 2000. It remains a modest presence today: a name meaning moonlight, with a space telescope for a namesake.
How popular is Chandra around the world?
In the United States, 8 babies were named Chandra between 2020 and 2025. In Spain, 26 residents are named Chandra, ranked 24,705th among women, with a mean age of 47.4 years.
Chandra is on the official records of the United States, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 2.7M
In the United States, 8 babies were named Chandra between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Chandra peaked in the 1960s and the 1990s in nearly equal measure. Chandra went to 6,737 US babies in the 1970s and has no row at all in the published 2025 record. US Social Security holds back any name given to fewer than five babies of one sex.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Spain
1 in 1.7M
In Spain, 26 residents are named Chandra, ranked 24,705th among women, with a mean age of 47.4 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2017
Chandra is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 92 people in Brazil were named Chandra, ranked 43,748th, with a median age of 35.
Among people named Chandra living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Canada
last on record 2008
Chandra is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
last on record 2001
Chandra is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 2008
Chandra is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Chandra
Most people given the name Chandra in the United States were born between 1960 and 1989. The Chandra you meet today is most often in their 40s or 50s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Indian baby names · Names of geniuses and inventors · Gender-neutral names · Extinct names
The Chandra deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Chandra truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Chandra fits with your family’s names and surname.
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