Pura
An Indian feminine given name meaning "town" or "village".
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Pura. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pura today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pura births was 1926 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pura. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Pura is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Puras were born before 1969.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Pura. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1926
9 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1979 SSA rank
#11,422
Tracked since 1922
Census
Pura in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,206 people with the first name Pura, which placed it at #10,861 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
#10,861
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,206 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
87.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pura
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pura is Hispanic at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.7%) and White (2.0%). 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 Pura 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 Pura at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino87.2% · 1,052
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.7% · 117
- White2.0% · 24
- Black or African American0.8% · 10
- Two or more races0.2% · 3
Popularity
Pura: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pura from the 1920s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 44 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Pura remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pura 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 Pura during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Puras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pura
The name Pura is derived from the Sanskrit word "pura," meaning "town" or "city." It has its origins in ancient India and is believed to have been used as early as the 6th century BCE.
In Hinduism, the word "pura" is often associated with sacred places or holy cities, such as Varanasi, also known as Kashi Pura. The name Pura may have been given to children as a symbol of prosperity and blessings, with the hope that they would thrive and flourish like a prosperous city.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pura can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this text, Pura is mentioned as the name of a kingdom ruled by King Drupada during the time of the Kurukshetra War, around the 9th century BCE.
Over the centuries, the name Pura has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history. One such person was Pura Desa, a 12th-century Cambodian king who reigned over the Khmer Empire from 1181 to 1215 CE. He was known for his military campaigns and for the construction of several temples, including the famous Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom.
Another historical figure with the name Pura was Pura Gunapala Malalasekera, a renowned Sri Lankan Buddhist scholar and writer who lived from 1899 to 1973. He is best known for his contributions to the study of Pali literature and his English translations of Buddhist texts.
In the field of arts and literature, Pura Sankrityayan, an Indian scholar and traveler, made significant contributions. Born in 1887, he explored various regions of the Himalayas and Central Asia, documenting the cultures and languages he encountered during his travels. His writings provided valuable insights into the history and traditions of these areas.
Pura Naraporn was a Thai artist and sculptor who lived from 1905 to 1982. She is considered one of the pioneers of modern Thai art and is best known for her sculptures depicting traditional Thai life and Buddhist themes.
Finally, Pura Besakih was a Balinese Hindu priest and spiritual leader who played a significant role in the preservation and promotion of Balinese culture and traditions. He lived from 1908 to 1995 and was highly respected for his knowledge and dedication to the Hindu faith.
People
Pura + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pura as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pura: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pura?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pura 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Pura a common name?
We classify Pura as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 173 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pura most popular?
The single biggest year for Pura was 1926, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pura is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pura in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,206 people with the name Pura, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,861 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 Pura 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 Pura?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pura leans strongly female. 1,194 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 14 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Pura?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pura is Hispanic at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.7%) and White (2.0%). 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 Pura most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Pura in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.2% (1,052 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 Pura in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pura a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pura 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 Pura still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pura 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 Pura 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 the name Pura?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.