Calandra
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Latin word for lark.
Name Census estimates that about 1,613 living Americans carry the first name Calandra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Calandra today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calandra births was 1972 (103 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calandra. 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.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 212,495 Americans
Peak year
1972
103 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2019 SSA rank
#15,975
Tracked since 1962
Census
Calandra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,459 people with the first name Calandra, which placed it at #9,499 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
#9,499
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,459 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calandra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calandra is Black at 74.5%. The next largest groups are White (14.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.5%). 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 Calandra 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 Calandra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.5% · 1,087
- White14.3% · 209
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.5% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 41
- Two or more races2.3% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 8
Popularity
Calandra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calandra from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 796 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calandra 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 Calandra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calandras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Georgia, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Calandra, while California, Arizona, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calandra
The name Calandra is of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word "kalandra," which means a type of lark or small songbird. It is believed to have been in use as early as the 5th century BC in ancient Greece.
The name Calandra was not widely used in ancient times, but it did appear in a few historical records and texts. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Calandra of Leuctra, a Greek poet who lived in the 4th century BC and wrote lyric poetry.
During the Renaissance period in Europe, the name Calandra gained some popularity, particularly in Italy. One notable individual with this name was Calandra Buonarroti, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 16th century and was a patron of the arts.
In the 17th century, Calandra Gabrielli was an Italian opera singer and composer who performed in various courts across Europe. She was known for her virtuosic vocal skills and composed several operas and cantatas.
In the 19th century, Calandra Camusso was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked in the Neoclassical style. Her works were exhibited in various galleries and museums throughout Italy.
Another notable figure with the name Calandra was Calandra Brugnatelli, an Italian chemist and professor who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She made significant contributions to the field of analytical chemistry and is known for her work on the analysis of mineral waters.
While the name Calandra has ancient Greek roots and has been used sporadically throughout history, it has never been a widely popular name in most cultures. However, it has maintained a presence, particularly in Italy, where it has been used as a feminine given name for several centuries.
People
Calandra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calandra as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Calandra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calandra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,613 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calandra 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 212,495 US residents.
Is Calandra a common name?
We classify Calandra as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,747 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calandra most popular?
The single biggest year for Calandra was 1972, when 103 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calandra is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calandra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,459 people with the name Calandra, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,499 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 Calandra 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 Calandra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calandra appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,460 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Calandra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calandra is Black at 74.5%. The next largest groups are White (14.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.5%). 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 Calandra most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Calandra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.5% (1,087 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 Calandra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calandra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calandra 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 Calandra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calandra 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 Calandra 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 Americans are named Calandra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.