Chanci
A feminine name of English origin meaning "chance" or "fortune".
Name Census estimates that about 53 living Americans carry the first name Chanci. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chanci today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chanci births was 1986 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chanci. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Chanci. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
53
~ 1 in 6,467,063 Americans
Peak year
1986
8 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1996 SSA rank
#13,907
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Chanci: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chanci from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 31 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
Chanci 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 Chanci 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 Chanci
The name Chanci has its origins in the ancient Sumerian civilization, one of the earliest known civilizations in Mesopotamia, located in modern-day Iraq. It emerged around 3500 BC and is derived from the Sumerian word "chan-si," which translates to "blessed one" or "favored by the gods."
This name was commonly used in Sumerian society, particularly among the ruling classes and religious leaders. It is believed to have been associated with individuals who were deemed to have a special connection to the divine or were considered to be under the protection of the gods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chanci can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Sumerian epic poem dating back to around 2100 BC. In this epic, Chanci is mentioned as the name of a wise and revered elder who provides counsel to the hero Gilgamesh.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chanci. One such figure was Chanci of Uruk (c. 2700 BC), a high priestess and respected religious leader in the city-state of Uruk, known for her wisdom and spiritual guidance.
Another prominent Chanci was a Sumerian scribe and scholar who lived around 2200 BC. He is credited with preserving many ancient texts and contributing to the development of cuneiform writing, one of the earliest known writing systems.
In the later Babylonian era, around 1800 BC, there was a renowned Chanci who served as a high-ranking official and advisor to King Hammurabi, known for his influential legal code, the Code of Hammurabi.
During the Akkadian period, around 2350 BC, a woman named Chanci was a celebrated poet and composer, renowned for her beautiful and evocative works that celebrated the gods and the natural world.
Another notable figure was Chanci the Astronomer, who lived in the 6th century BC and made significant contributions to the study of the heavens, developing advanced methods for tracking celestial bodies and predicting astronomical events.
While the name Chanci has its roots in ancient Sumerian culture, it has been adopted and adapted by various civilizations throughout history, each giving it their unique cultural interpretations and associations. Despite its ancient origins, the name continues to resonate with its underlying meaning of blessedness and divine favor.
People
Chanci + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chanci 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
Chanci: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chanci?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chanci 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 6,467,063 US residents.
Is Chanci a common name?
We classify Chanci as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 56 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chanci most popular?
The single biggest year for Chanci was 1986, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chanci is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Chanci in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chanci a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chanci 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 Chanci still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chanci 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 Chanci 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Chanci?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.