Candra
Feminine · “the moon”
One letter separates this from a Sanskrit word for the moon. Chandra is the moon and a moon god in the Indian tradition, entirely ordinary as a name across the subcontinent, and dropping the h produces a spelling that reads as an American blend instead — the same letters, a different continent.
How old is the name Candra?
Candra first appears in US birth records in 1946 — 79 years ago. The typical Candra alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 1,700 people named Candra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Candra most popular?
Candra peaked in 1984, reaching #1362 nationally. See the whole 1984 chart.
Where it comes from
From Candra to Candra
The story of Candra
The Sanskrit word is one of the more productive in the language. Chandra opens or closes a great many names and words — a moonstone, a moonbeam, the several dozen personal names built on it — and it is cognate with the Latin word for shining that gives English candid and candle and incandescent. So the moon in Sanskrit and a candle in English descend from the same ancient root meaning to glow, and a name that appears in America as a blend of two unrelated women's names lands, entirely by accident, one letter from the older word.
Meaningscholars disagree
the moon, or nothing at all
If the source is the Sanskrit word the sense is clear. If the name is a blend of Candace and Sandra, as its American appearances suggest, it has no meaning. The spelling points away from the Sanskrit.
How the name formed
- Candra
- Chandra
Related forms: Chandra
Pronouncing Candra
KAN-druh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The Sanskrit form is said with an aspirated opening consonant that English does not distinguish.
Nicknames for Candra
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1946
- Most girls named
- 198687 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1362reached in 1984
- Change vs 2011
- +16.7%7 in 2013, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Candra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Chandra in Sanskrit — related form
Candras among us
people named Candra are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Candra sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, brisk and completely easy to say.
- The spelling follows the sound with nothing to explain.
- It sits one letter from a name with a very large tradition behind it.
- The dropped h cuts it off from the Sanskrit word it resembles.
- Chandra and Kandra both appear and the spelling gets queried.
- No meaning can be given with confidence.
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What they receive
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Candra
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Candras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Candra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Candra in 2025?
- Candra is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Candra with classmates?
- Candra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Candra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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