Chalice
A ceremonial cup used for holding sacred wine or other liquids.
Name Census estimates that about 240 living Americans carry the first name Chalice. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chalice today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chalice births was 1990 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chalice. 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 Chalice with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
240
~ 1 in 1,428,143 Americans
Peak year
1990
19 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2007 SSA rank
#18,174
Tracked since 1946
Census
Chalice in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 366 people with the first name Chalice, which placed it at #25,756 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
#25,756
National first-name rank
People counted
366
366 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chalice
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chalice is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Chalice 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 Chalice at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.2% · 213
- Black or African American25.7% · 94
- Two or more races4.9% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 7
Popularity
Chalice: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chalice from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 65 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Chalice remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chalice 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 Chalice 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 Chalice
The name Chalice derives from the Old French word "chalice," which means a cup or goblet, particularly one used in religious ceremonies. The word itself can be traced back to the Latin "calix," meaning a small cup or drinking vessel. This connection to a ceremonial vessel suggests that the name may have originated as a descriptive nickname or occupational surname for someone involved in the production or use of chalices in religious contexts.
The earliest recorded use of Chalice as a given name dates back to the late 16th century in England. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Chalice Barcroft, an English landowner born in 1592. In the 17th century, Chalice Crew (1608-1675) was a notable English politician and Member of Parliament during the Commonwealth era.
During the 18th century, the name gained some popularity among Puritan families in New England. Chalice Estabrook (1718-1794) was a prominent figure in the American Revolutionary War, serving as a captain in the Continental Army. Another notable bearer of this name from this period was Chalice Wentworth (1737-1820), a wealthy merchant and philanthropist in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
In the 19th century, the name Chalice appeared in literary works, such as the novel "The Chalice of Life" by William S. Hubbell, published in 1853. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Chalice Leighton (1851-1923), a renowned English artist and painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
In more recent times, Chalice Overy (1904-1986) was a British writer and novelist known for her historical fiction set in medieval England. Chalice Hawkins (1929-2007) was an American singer and songwriter who achieved success in the 1950s with her hit song "I'll Never Be Free."
While the name Chalice has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon, likely due to its strong religious connotations and association with a ceremonial object. However, its unique sound and connection to ancient traditions have continued to attract some parents seeking a distinctive and meaningful name for their children.
People
Chalice + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chalice 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
Chalice: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chalice?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 240 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chalice 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 1,428,143 US residents.
Is Chalice a common name?
We classify Chalice as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 260 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chalice most popular?
The single biggest year for Chalice was 1990, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chalice is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chalice in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 366 people with the name Chalice, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,756 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 Chalice 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 Chalice?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chalice leans strongly female. 333 people counted with this name were female (93.8%), compared with 22 male bearers (6.2%). 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 Chalice?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chalice is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Chalice most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chalice in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (213 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 Chalice in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chalice a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chalice 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 Chalice still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chalice 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 Chalice 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 Chalice?
Want to know how many Americans are named Chalice? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.