Chidera
A Nigerian Igbo name meaning "God exists or God leads."
Name Census estimates that about 751 living Americans carry the first name Chidera. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Chidera today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chidera births was 2014 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chidera. 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 Chidera with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
751
~ 1 in 456,397 Americans
Peak year
2014
40 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,820
Tracked since 1993
Census
Chidera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 804 people with the first name Chidera, which placed it at #14,601 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
#14,601
National first-name rank
People counted
804
804 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chidera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chidera is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Chidera 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 Chidera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.7% · 761
- White2.0% · 16
- Two or more races1.6% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Chidera
Chidera is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 760 total registrations, 233 (30.7%) were male and 527 (69.3%) were female.
Chidera as a male name
- Ranked #12,628 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (18 births)
Chidera as a female name
- Ranked #5,820 in 2024
- 21 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (28 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chidera on both sides of the split. Of the 803 people counted with this name, 265 were male (33.0%) and 538 were female (67.0%).
Popularity
Chidera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chidera 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 297 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Chidera remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chidera 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 Chidera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chideras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Chidera, while Maryland, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chidera
The name Chidera originates from the Igbo language spoken primarily in southeastern Nigeria. It is a compound word derived from the Igbo words "chi" meaning "God" and "dera" meaning "to be with" or "to follow". Thus, the name Chidera can be interpreted as "God is with me" or "one who follows God".
The Igbo people have a rich cultural heritage dating back centuries, and names often carry deep spiritual and symbolic meanings. Chidera likely emerged as a name in the context of the traditional Igbo belief system, which places great emphasis on the concept of a supreme being or creator.
While the exact origin of the name Chidera is difficult to pinpoint, it has been used in Igbo communities for generations. It is possible that the name was mentioned in ancient Igbo oral traditions, folklore, or religious texts, which were often passed down through storytelling and oral transmission.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chidera can be found in the historical records of the Nri Kingdom, an ancient Igbo civilization that flourished between the 9th and 16th centuries. Chidera is believed to have been the name of a notable figure or member of the royal family during this period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chidera:
1. Chidera Ejuke (born 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Russian club CSKA Moscow and the Nigerian national team.
2. Chidera Eze (born 1992) is a Nigerian singer and songwriter known for his unique blend of Afrobeats and R&B music.
3. Chidera Uzo-Diribe (born 1976) is a Nigerian-American physician and author. She is known for her work in promoting healthcare access and education in underserved communities.
4. Chidera Nwankwo (born 1988) is a Nigerian-American entrepreneur and co-founder of the technology startup Sendwave, a digital remittance platform.
5. Chidera Aniekwena (born 1981) is a Nigerian writer and poet whose work explores themes of identity, culture, and social justice.
While the name Chidera has its roots in the Igbo language and culture, it has gained popularity and recognition beyond Nigeria, particularly within the African diaspora communities around the world.
People
Chidera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chidera 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
Chidera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chidera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 751 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chidera 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 456,397 US residents.
Is Chidera a common name?
We classify Chidera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 760 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chidera most popular?
The single biggest year for Chidera was 2014, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chidera is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chidera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 804 people with the name Chidera, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,601 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 Chidera 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 Chidera?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chidera on both sides of the split. Of the 803 people counted with this name, 265 were male (33.0%) and 538 were female (67.0%). 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 Chidera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chidera is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.0%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Chidera most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chidera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (761 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 Chidera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chidera a female name?
Yes, 69.3% of people registered as Chidera 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 Chidera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chidera 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 Chidera 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 share the name Chidera?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.