Chava
Feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "life" or "living one".
Name Census estimates that about 3,340 living Americans carry the first name Chava. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chava today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chava births was 2024 (157 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chava. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Chava with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 102,621 Americans
Peak year
2024
157 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,415
Tracked since 1951
Census
Chava in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,560 people with the first name Chava, which placed it at #6,304 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
#6,304
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,560 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chava
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chava is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Black (2.0%). 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 Chava 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 Chava at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.8% · 2,300
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 149
- Black or African American2.0% · 51
- Two or more races1.3% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
Popularity
Chava: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chava from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 969 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Chava remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chava 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 Chava during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chavas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Chava, while Illinois, California, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 687 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chava
The name Chava has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is a feminine form of the name Chavah, which is derived from the Biblical Hebrew word "חַוָּה" (Hawwah), meaning "life-giver" or "mother of all living". This name first appears in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where it refers to Eve, the first woman created by God.
The earliest recorded use of the name Chava dates back to ancient times when the Hebrew Bible was written, around the 6th century BCE. In the Biblical narrative, Chava was the name given to the first woman by her husband Adam, after they were created by God in the Garden of Eden.
Throughout history, the name Chava has been associated with various notable figures. One of the earliest was Chava, a Jewish martyr who lived in the 1st century CE and was executed by the Roman authorities for her religious beliefs. Another notable bearer of the name was Chava Shpil, a 16th-century Jewish poet and philosopher from Poland.
In the 18th century, Chava Malka, a Jewish mystic and kabbalist, gained recognition for her spiritual teachings and writings. In the 19th century, Chava Musha Shapira was a prominent Hebrew poet and author from Palestine.
More recently, Chava Alberstein, born in 1947, is a renowned Israeli singer and songwriter who has made significant contributions to the Israeli music scene.
The name Chava has also appeared in various literary works and religious texts throughout history, reflecting its deep-rooted connection to the Hebrew culture and tradition. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, the name continues to hold significant meaning and symbolism for those who bear it or appreciate its rich historical and cultural significance.
People
Chava + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chava 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
Chava: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chava?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,340 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chava 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 102,621 US residents.
Is Chava a common name?
We classify Chava as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,432 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chava most popular?
The single biggest year for Chava was 2024, when 157 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chava is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chava in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,560 people with the name Chava, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,304 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 Chava 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 Chava?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chava leans strongly female. 2,422 people counted with this name were female (94.5%), compared with 140 male bearers (5.5%). 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 Chava?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chava is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Black (2.0%). 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 Chava most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chava in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (2,300 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 Chava in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chava a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chava 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 Chava still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chava 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 Chava 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 named Chava?
Find out how many Americans are named Chava on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.