Chaunte
A feminine French name meaning "to sing" or "singer".
Name Census estimates that about 435 living Americans carry the first name Chaunte. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chaunte today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chaunte births was 1978 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chaunte. 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
435
~ 1 in 787,941 Americans
Peak year
1978
37 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2007 SSA rank
#14,236
Tracked since 1968
Census
Chaunte in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 432 people with the first name Chaunte, which placed it at #22,880 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
#22,880
National first-name rank
People counted
432
432 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chaunte
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chaunte is Black at 65.7%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and Two or More Races (10.0%). 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 Chaunte 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 Chaunte at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.7% · 284
- White15.7% · 68
- Two or more races10.0% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 6
Popularity
Chaunte: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chaunte from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 231 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
Chaunte 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 Chaunte during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chauntes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Chaunte, while Illinois, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chaunte
The name Chaunte has its origins in the French language, emerging during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "chanter," which means "to sing." This connection suggests that the name was likely bestowed upon individuals renowned for their musical talents or melodic voices.
During the 12th century, the name Chaunte appeared in various troubadour poems and medieval French literature, often associated with skilled singers or entertainers. Some scholars believe that the name may have been inspired by the biblical figure of Miriam, who is celebrated in the Book of Exodus for leading the Israelites in a song of praise after crossing the Red Sea.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Chaunte was a 13th-century French troubadour known as Chaunte de Saint-Gilles (c. 1220-1295). She was renowned for her poetic compositions and performances at the courts of various European nobles.
In the 14th century, the name gained further prominence with Chaunte de Belleville (1325-1390), a renowned French singer and composer who served as the court musician to King Charles VI of France.
During the Renaissance period, the name Chaunte was associated with the Italian composer and singer Chaunte Palestrina (c. 1525-1594), who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of Renaissance polyphonic music.
In the 17th century, the name found its way into English literature, with the character of Chaunte appearing in William Shakespeare's play "As You Like It" (1599). This fictional character was portrayed as a skilled singer and musician.
Another notable bearer of the name was the French composer and organist Chaunte Couperin (1668-1733), who played a significant role in the development of the French Baroque style and served as the organist at the Church of Saint-Gervais in Paris.
Throughout history, the name Chaunte has been associated with individuals renowned for their musical talents, artistic expression, and cultural contributions. While not as common today, it remains a unique and evocative name with a rich historical legacy.
People
Chaunte + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chaunte 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
Chaunte: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chaunte?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 435 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chaunte 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 787,941 US residents.
Is Chaunte a common name?
We classify Chaunte as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 464 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chaunte most popular?
The single biggest year for Chaunte was 1978, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chaunte is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chaunte in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 432 people with the name Chaunte, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,880 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 Chaunte 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 Chaunte?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chaunte leans strongly female. 413 people counted with this name were female (95.8%), compared with 18 male bearers (4.2%). 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 Chaunte?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chaunte is Black at 65.7%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and Two or More Races (10.0%). 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 Chaunte most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chaunte in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.7% (284 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 Chaunte in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chaunte a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chaunte 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 Chaunte still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chaunte 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 Chaunte 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 Chaunte?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.