Chantry
A word referring to a chapel or an endowment for priests.
Name Census estimates that about 142 living Americans carry the first name Chantry. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chantry today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chantry births was 1989 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chantry. 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
142
~ 1 in 2,413,763 Americans
Peak year
1989
15 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2015 SSA rank
#10,914
Tracked since 1978
Census
Chantry in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Chantry, which placed it at #33,765 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
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chantry
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chantry is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Black (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 Chantry 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 Chantry at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.9% · 195
- Two or more races7.0% · 17
- Black or African American4.9% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 3
Popularity
Chantry: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chantry from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 73 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chantry 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 Chantry 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 Chantry
The name Chantry has its origins in Old French, derived from the word "chanterie," which referred to an endowment for the singing of masses for the souls of the deceased. The name is closely tied to the medieval Catholic Church and its religious practices.
In medieval times, a chantry was a chapel or small side altar within a church, where masses were regularly celebrated and prayers were offered for the souls of the deceased benefactors who had endowed the chantry. The name Chantry emerged as a surname for those who were employed or associated with these chantry chapels.
The earliest recorded use of Chantry as a first name dates back to the 13th century, when it was given to individuals who were born or resided near these chantry chapels. It was a way to commemorate the religious significance of these endowed chapels and the charitable acts of their founders.
One of the earliest known individuals with the first name Chantry was Chantry de Vaux, a 13th-century English landowner and benefactor who established a chantry chapel in Northamptonshire, England.
Another notable figure was Chantry Hichens, a 15th-century English priest and scholar who served as the chaplain of a chantry chapel in Somerset, England.
In the 16th century, Chantry Barnfield, an English poet and writer, was born in 1574 and is known for his works such as "The Encomion of Lady Pecunia" and "The Affectionate Shepherd."
During the 17th century, Chantry Burgh, an English architect and surveyor, was born in 1630 and is credited with designing several churches and buildings in London and the surrounding areas.
In the 19th century, Chantry Symes, an English artist and painter, was born in 1834 and gained recognition for his landscapes and portraits.
While the name Chantry has its roots in religious and historical contexts, its use as a first name has become increasingly rare in modern times. However, it remains a unique and intriguing name that carries a rich cultural and ecclesiastical heritage.
People
Chantry + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chantry 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
Chantry: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chantry?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 142 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chantry 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 2,413,763 US residents.
Is Chantry a common name?
We classify Chantry as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 147 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chantry most popular?
The single biggest year for Chantry was 1989, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chantry is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chantry in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Chantry, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 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 Chantry 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 Chantry?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chantry on both sides of the split. Of the 243 people counted with this name, 173 were male (71.2%) and 70 were female (28.8%). 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 Chantry?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chantry is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Black (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 Chantry most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chantry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (195 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 Chantry in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chantry a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chantry 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 Chantry still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chantry 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 Chantry 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 are called Chantry?
Find out how many people have the name Chantry on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.