Chamar
Leather worker or cobbler in some Indian communities.
Name Census estimates that about 236 living Americans carry the first name Chamar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chamar today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chamar births was 2001 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chamar. 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
236
~ 1 in 1,452,349 Americans
Peak year
2001
18 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,682
Tracked since 1979
Census
Chamar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 231 people with the first name Chamar, which placed it at #35,041 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
#35,041
National first-name rank
People counted
231
231 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chamar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chamar is Black at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.2%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Chamar 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 Chamar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.5% · 193
- Two or more races8.2% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 11
- White2.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 3
Popularity
Chamar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chamar from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 114 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chamar 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 Chamar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chamar
The name Chamar has its origins in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the northern regions of India and Pakistan. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "charma," which means "leather" or "skin." In ancient times, the term "Chamar" was used to refer to a community of people who traditionally worked as leather tanners and cobblers.
The Chamar community has a rich cultural heritage and has been mentioned in various ancient texts and historical records. In the Puranic literature, there are references to the Chamar community as skilled craftsmen who played a vital role in society. The name Chamar is also found in the Rigveda, one of the oldest and most significant Hindu scriptures, where it is mentioned in the context of occupational castes.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Chamar can be found in the writings of the celebrated Indian poet and scholar, Kalidas, who lived during the 4th-5th century CE. In his famous work, "Raghuvamsa," he mentions the name Chamar in reference to a character from the epic.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chamar. One of the most prominent figures was Chamar Raja, a 16th-century ruler of the Chamar dynasty in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. He was known for his military prowess and his contributions to the development of the region.
Another famous Chamar was Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (1682-1749), the ruler of the Maratha Empire in India. He was a progressive leader who worked towards abolishing discriminatory practices and promoting social reforms during his reign.
In the realm of literature, Chamar Singh Negi (1888-1973) was a renowned Indian poet and writer who made significant contributions to the Garhwali language and literature. His works explored themes of nature, love, and the human condition.
Chamar Leatherworkers, also known as Chamars or Chamar, were a community of skilled artisans who played a crucial role in the leather industry of ancient and medieval India. Their expertise in tanning and crafting leather products was highly valued, and their work was instrumental in various aspects of daily life, from footwear and clothing to armor and saddles.
It is worth noting that while the name Chamar has its roots in an occupational caste, it has transcended those boundaries and is now used as a given name across various communities and regions in India and neighboring countries.
People
Chamar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chamar 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
Chamar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chamar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 236 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chamar 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 1,452,349 US residents.
Is Chamar a common name?
We classify Chamar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 240 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chamar most popular?
The single biggest year for Chamar was 2001, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chamar is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chamar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 231 people with the name Chamar, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,041 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 Chamar 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 Chamar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chamar leans strongly male. 191 people counted with this name were male (83.8%), compared with 37 female bearers (16.2%). 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 Chamar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chamar is Black at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.2%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Chamar most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chamar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (193 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 Chamar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chamar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chamar in the SSA data are male. 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 Chamar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chamar 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 Chamar 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 have Chamar as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.