Chauntay
A feminine given name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Chantal.
Name Census estimates that about 56 living Americans carry the first name Chauntay. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chauntay today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chauntay births was 1987 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chauntay. 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 Chauntay. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
56
~ 1 in 6,120,613 Americans
Peak year
1987
8 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1990 SSA rank
#11,674
Tracked since 1961
Popularity
Chauntay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chauntay from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 34 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
Chauntay 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 Chauntay 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 Chauntay
The name Chauntay is a relatively modern invention, with no clear linguistic roots or historical origins. It appears to be a unique creation, potentially inspired by a combination of sounds or existing names, but without a definitive connection to any particular language, culture, or historical figure.
Despite its lack of a documented past, the name Chauntay has gained some popularity in recent decades, primarily in the United States and certain other English-speaking countries. While it is not a traditionally common name, it has been adopted by a handful of individuals, some of whom have achieved varying levels of recognition.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Chauntay was Chauntay Starr, an American actress born in 1975. She appeared in several television shows and films throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, including roles in "Sister, Sister" and "The Brothers."
Another notable figure was Chauntay Caplan, an American basketball player who played college basketball for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the early 2000s. She went on to play professionally in Europe and Asia.
In the realm of music, there was Chauntay Dey, an American singer-songwriter who released several albums in the late 2000s and early 2010s, primarily in the genres of R&B and soul.
Additionally, Chauntay Thompson was an American track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
While not a historically ancient name, Chauntay has also been recorded as the name of a few individuals born in the late 20th century, such as Chauntay Shepard, a writer and activist from North Carolina, and Chauntay Wilson, an entrepreneur and business owner from Texas.
Despite its relatively recent emergence, the name Chauntay has managed to make its mark in various fields, from entertainment and sports to literature and entrepreneurship. While its origins remain somewhat obscure, it has undoubtedly carved its own unique path in the modern era.
People
Chauntay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chauntay 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
Chauntay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chauntay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 56 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chauntay 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 6,120,613 US residents.
Is Chauntay a common name?
We classify Chauntay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 61 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chauntay most popular?
The single biggest year for Chauntay was 1987, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chauntay is about 44 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 Chauntay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chauntay a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chauntay 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 Chauntay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chauntay 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 Chauntay 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 Chauntay?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Chauntay at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.