Chanler
French given name meaning "one who makes or sells candles".
Name Census estimates that about 624 living Americans carry the first name Chanler. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Chanler today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chanler births was 1999 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chanler. 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
624
~ 1 in 549,286 Americans
Peak year
1999
40 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2022 SSA rank
#7,351
Tracked since 1990
Census
Chanler in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 606 people with the first name Chanler, which placed it at #17,943 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
#17,943
National first-name rank
People counted
606
606 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chanler
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chanler is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.0%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Chanler 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 Chanler at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.9% · 448
- Black or African American12.0% · 73
- Two or more races6.3% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Chanler
Chanler is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 634 total registrations, 458 (72.2%) were male and 176 (27.8%) were female.
Chanler as a male name
- Ranked #7,351 in 2022
- 11 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2001 (29 births)
Chanler as a female name
- Ranked #15,705 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chanler on both sides of the split. Of the 601 people counted with this name, 416 were male (69.2%) and 185 were female (30.8%).
Popularity
Chanler: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chanler from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 251 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chanler 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 Chanler during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chanlers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chanler
The name Chanler has its roots in the French language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "chancelier," which means "chancellor" or "record keeper." The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 12th century, when it was used to refer to individuals who held the position of chancellor in various courts and governments across Europe.
During the medieval period, the name Chanler was primarily associated with individuals of high rank and status, as chancellors were often among the most influential advisors to kings and nobles. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Arnaud de Chanler, a prominent chancellor in the court of King Louis VII of France in the 12th century.
As the name spread throughout Europe, it evolved into various spellings and forms, including Chancer, Chauncer, and Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned English poet and author of "The Canterbury Tales," was born around 1343 and is perhaps the most famous historical figure associated with this name.
In the 16th century, the name Chanler gained prominence in England, where it was used by several notable individuals. Robert Chanler, an English lawyer and politician, served as a Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the late 16th century.
Another significant figure bearing the name Chanler was John Chanler, an American lawyer and diplomat who lived from 1862 to 1935. He served as the United States Ambassador to Spain and played a crucial role in negotiating the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War in 1898.
Robert Winthrop Chanler, an American artist and Art Nouveau decorator, was born in 1872 and is renowned for his intricate and ornate designs adorning various buildings, including the Bronx Zoo and the Virginia House in New York City.
In the field of literature, Amelie Rives Chanler, born in 1863, was an American novelist and playwright who gained fame for her controversial works, including the novel "The Quick or the Dead?" and the play "Herod and Mariamne."
While the name Chanler has its origins in the French language and was initially associated with individuals of high social status, it has since become more widely used across various cultures and regions, reflecting the diverse and rich history of this name.
People
Chanler + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chanler 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
Chanler: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chanler?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 624 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chanler 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 549,286 US residents.
Is Chanler a common name?
We classify Chanler as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 634 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chanler most popular?
The single biggest year for Chanler was 1999, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chanler is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chanler in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 606 people with the name Chanler, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,943 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 Chanler 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 Chanler?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chanler on both sides of the split. Of the 601 people counted with this name, 416 were male (69.2%) and 185 were female (30.8%). 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 Chanler?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chanler is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.0%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Chanler most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chanler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.9% (448 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 Chanler in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chanler a male name?
Yes, 72.2% of people registered as Chanler 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 Chanler still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chanler 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 Chanler 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 Chanler?
See how many people share the name Chanler on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.