Chais
A Greek name meaning "joy" or "rejoice".
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the first name Chais. It is a predominantly male name (96.3% of registrations). The average person named Chais today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chais births was 1994 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chais. 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
132
~ 1 in 2,596,624 Americans
Peak year
1994
14 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2009 SSA rank
#12,800
Tracked since 1982
Census
Chais in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 186 people with the first name Chais, which placed it at #40,168 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
#40,168
National first-name rank
People counted
186
186 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chais
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chais is White at 65.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.4%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). 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 Chais 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 Chais at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.6% · 122
- Black or African American19.4% · 36
- Two or more races8.1% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Chais
Chais leans heavily male at 96.3% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Chais as a male name
- Ranked #12,800 in 2009
- 5 male births in 2009
- Peak: 1994 (14 births)
Chais as a female name
- Ranked #13,900 in 1996
- 5 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1996 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chais leans strongly male. 149 people counted with this name were male (82.3%), compared with 32 female bearers (17.7%).
Popularity
Chais: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chais from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 48 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chais 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 Chais 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 Chais
The name Chais has its origins in ancient Persia, deriving from the Old Persian word "chaish," which means "graceful" or "elegant." It is believed to have been in use as a personal name since the 6th century BCE during the Achaemenid Empire.
Chais was a relatively common name among the nobility and upper classes of ancient Persia. Its popularity can be attributed to the cultural emphasis on grace, refinement, and sophistication during that period. The name is also found in early Persian literature, including the epic poetry of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, which dates back to the late 10th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Chais was a prominent Persian scholar and philosopher who lived in the 9th century CE. Known as Chais Al-Razi, he made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. His works were widely studied and influential throughout the Islamic Golden Age.
In the 12th century, a renowned Persian poet and mystic named Chais Al-Din Rumi was born in present-day Afghanistan. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest spiritual masters in Sufism and his poetic works, such as the Masnavi, have had a profound impact on Persian and world literature.
Another notable figure was Chais Khan, a military commander and governor who served under the Safavid Empire in the 17th century. He played a crucial role in the expansion and consolidation of Safavid rule in various regions of modern-day Iran and Iraq.
In more recent history, Chais was the name of a prominent Iranian artist and calligrapher who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as Chais Aqa Sanglaji, he was celebrated for his mastery of the Persian calligraphic styles, particularly the Nastaliq script, and his works are highly regarded in the art world.
Throughout its long history, the name Chais has been associated with grace, elegance, and cultural refinement, reflecting its Persian origins and the rich traditions of the region.
People
Chais + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chais 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
Chais: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chais?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chais 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 2,596,624 US residents.
Is Chais a common name?
We classify Chais as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 136 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chais most popular?
The single biggest year for Chais was 1994, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chais is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chais in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 186 people with the name Chais, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,168 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 Chais 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 Chais?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chais leans strongly male. 149 people counted with this name were male (82.3%), compared with 32 female bearers (17.7%). 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 Chais?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chais is White at 65.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.4%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). 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 Chais most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chais in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.6% (122 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 Chais in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chais a male name?
Yes, 96.3% of people registered as Chais 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 Chais still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chais 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 Chais 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 common is the name Chais?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.