Swara
Feminine · “musical note”
Swara is the Sanskrit word for a musical note — and in Indian music a note is not a pitch but a whole thing with a name, a character and a place in a scale. It is a technical word used as a name.
How old is the name Swara?
Swara first appears in US birth records in 2005 — 20 years ago. The typical Swara is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Swara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Swara most popular?
Swara peaked in 2018, reaching #2071 nationally. Today it ranks #3342, 1,271 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From svara to Swara
The story of Swara
Svara is a word of the grammarians and the musicians alike: it names a vowel in Sanskrit phonetics and a note in the musical treatises. The seven-note scale it belongs to is documented from at least the early centuries of the common era. Its use as a personal name is modern, part of the same Indian preference for short Sanskrit words that produced Anya, Riya and Diya, and it reaches American records with families from across India.
Meaning
musical note, sound, voice
From Sanskrit svara, a sound or a vowel, and specifically one of the seven notes of the Indian scale; the seven svaras are named sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni and are learned by every student of the classical tradition.
How the name formed
- svara
- Swara
Related forms: Swara · Svara · Swara
Pronouncing Swara
SWUH-rah
Two syllables, first stressed. English speakers often say SWAR-ah, with a longer first vowel.
Nicknames for Swara
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
- 2005
- Most girls named
- 201893 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2071reached in 2018
- Change vs 2024
- +17.9%46 in 2025, from 39
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.
Swara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Swara in Hindi — transliteration
- Svara in Sanskrit — same name
- Swara in Marathi — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Swaras among us
people named Swara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 34,941 born in 2025 was named Swara
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Boni test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Swara's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Boni climbed just as high around 1953, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Boni's path sketches the road Swara is walking now.
Swara sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Swara is headed
Swara is easing off slowly — about 20% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Swara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Swara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning drawn from a living musical tradition with a documented history.
- Five letters and two syllables, easy to write early.
- The sw opening is unusual and keeps the name distinct.
- In America it will be heard as Sara and written that way.
- Swara and Svara are both used in transliteration and relatives may prefer the other.
- The technical sense of the word is invisible outside families who know Indian music.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Swara
Feminine · #3342 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Swaras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Swara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Swara in 2025?
- Swara ranks #3342 among US girl names in 2025, with 46 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Swara?
- About 1 in every 34,941 US girls born in 2025 was named Swara — 46 in all.
- Will my child share the name Swara with classmates?
- Swara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Swara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zorah#3342 · Monique#3342 · Kinleigh#3342 · Emmelyn#3342 · Zyana#3342 · Azaleah#3342 · Kamiah#3342 · Elenora#3342
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Swara? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Swara and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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