Anara
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "pomegranate".
Name Census estimates that about 382 living Americans carry the first name Anara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anara today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anara births was 2019 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anara. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Anara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
382
~ 1 in 897,263 Americans
Peak year
2019
33 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,615
Tracked since 1993
Census
Anara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 412 people with the first name Anara, which placed it at #23,670 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
#23,670
National first-name rank
People counted
412
412 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anara is White at 41.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.2%) and Hispanic (15.3%). 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 Anara 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 Anara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.7% · 172
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.2% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino15.3% · 63
- Black or African American13.6% · 56
- Two or more races10.7% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Anara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anara from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 211 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Anara remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anara 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 Anara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anaras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Anara
The name Anara is believed to have originated from the Kazakh language, which is spoken primarily in Kazakhstan, a country located in Central Asia. The name is thought to be derived from the Persian word "anar," meaning "pomegranate," which is a fruit with deep cultural significance in various regions of Central Asia and the Middle East.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Anara can be traced back to the medieval period, where it was commonly used among the nomadic tribes of the Kazakh Steppe. During this time, the name was often associated with beauty, fertility, and abundance, reflecting the symbolic importance of the pomegranate in Kazakh culture.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Anara can be found in the epic poem "Kutty Bilyk," written by the renowned Kazakh poet and scholar Qutb al-Din Mahmud al-Khwarizmi in the 13th century. In this work, the name is mentioned in connection with a beautiful and virtuous woman.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Anara. One of the most famous was Anara Atantayeva (1916-2008), a celebrated Kazakh opera singer and People's Artist of the USSR. She was renowned for her powerful and emotive performances and played a significant role in promoting Kazakh cultural heritage on the international stage.
Another prominent individual with the name Anara was Anara Gumarova (1929-2018), a renowned Kazakh ballerina and choreographer. She was the first Kazakh prima ballerina and made significant contributions to the development of classical ballet in Kazakhstan.
In the realm of literature, Anara Abaikhan (1913-1983) was a prominent Kazakh writer and poet. Her works explored themes of love, nature, and the struggles of the Kazakh people during the Soviet era. She received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to Kazakh literature.
Anara Sadykova (1943-2021) was a respected Kazakh linguist and scholar, renowned for her work in preserving and promoting the Kazakh language. She authored numerous books and publications on Kazakh linguistics and played a crucial role in developing language education programs in Kazakhstan.
Anara Begaliyeva (born 1963) is a contemporary Kazakh artist and sculptor known for her distinctive style and exploration of traditional Kazakh motifs in her works. Her sculptures have been exhibited in various international exhibitions and are highly regarded in the art world.
While these are just a few examples, the name Anara has been carried by numerous individuals throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of Kazakhstan and the broader Central Asian region.
People
Anara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Anara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 382 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anara 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 897,263 US residents.
Is Anara a common name?
We classify Anara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 385 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anara most popular?
The single biggest year for Anara was 2019, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anara is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 412 people with the name Anara, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,670 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 Anara 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 Anara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anara appears almost entirely female. Of the 412 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Anara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anara is White at 41.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.2%) and Hispanic (15.3%). 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 Anara most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Anara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.7% (172 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 Anara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anara 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 Anara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anara 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 Anara 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 are called Anara?
You can see how many Americans are named Anara on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.