Charyn
A feminine name of unclear origin, potentially relating to the word "chary" meaning wary or cautious.
Name Census estimates that about 39 living Americans carry the first name Charyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Charyn today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Charyn births was 1947 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Charyn. 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 Charyn. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
39
~ 1 in 8,788,573 Americans
Peak year
1947
7 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1977 SSA rank
#7,678
Tracked since 1945
Census
Charyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 125 people with the first name Charyn, which placed it at #49,507 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
#49,507
National first-name rank
People counted
125
125 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Charyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charyn is White at 71.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Charyn 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 Charyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.2% · 89
- Black or African American12.8% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 4
- Two or more races3.2% · 4
Popularity
Charyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Charyn from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 23 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Charyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Charyn 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 Charyn 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 Charyn
The name Charyn has its origins in the ancient Slavic languages, with roots tracing back to the early medieval period in Eastern Europe. It is believed to have derived from the Proto-Slavic word "čara," meaning "magic" or "charm," suggesting a connection to mystical or supernatural qualities.
One of the earliest known references to the name Charyn can be found in ancient Slavic folklore and mythology, where it was often associated with powerful sorcerers, wise women, and individuals believed to possess extraordinary abilities. This connection to the mystical realm likely contributed to the name's enduring appeal and its adoption across various Slavic cultures.
The earliest recorded use of the name Charyn dates back to the 10th century, when it appeared in historical records from the Kievan Rus', an early medieval East Slavic state. One notable figure from this period was Charyn of Polotsk, a legendary princess known for her beauty and intelligence, who lived in the late 10th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Charyn gained popularity among the nobility and aristocracy in various Slavic lands, including modern-day Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland. One prominent historical figure was Charyn Volkonsky, a Russian noblewoman and courtier who lived during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century.
In the 17th century, Charyn Mikhailovna, a Russian noble and landowner, gained renown for her philanthropic efforts and support of educational initiatives in her region. Her legacy as a patron of the arts and education helped further popularize the name during this period.
Moving into the 19th century, Charyn Pirogova, a renowned Russian physician and pioneer in the field of women's education, made significant contributions to the advancement of medical knowledge and the empowerment of women in academia. Her remarkable achievements brought further recognition to the name Charyn.
Another notable figure was Charyn Zhukovsky, a celebrated Russian poet and translator who lived in the early 19th century. His works played a pivotal role in shaping the literary landscape of his time and introducing Russian readers to the works of renowned European poets and writers.
These are just a few examples of prominent individuals throughout history who bore the name Charyn, each contributing to its enduring legacy and cultural significance within the Slavic tradition.
People
Charyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Charyn 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
Charyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Charyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 39 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Charyn 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 8,788,573 US residents.
Is Charyn a common name?
We classify Charyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 54 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Charyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Charyn was 1947, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Charyn is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Charyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 125 people with the name Charyn, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,507 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 Charyn 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 Charyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Charyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 126 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Charyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Charyn is White at 71.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Charyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Charyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.2% (89 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 Charyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Charyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Charyn 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 Charyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Charyn 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 Charyn 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 Charyn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Charyn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.