Chavie
A feminine Jewish name meaning "life" or "living".
Name Census estimates that about 100 living Americans carry the first name Chavie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chavie today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chavie births was 1990 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chavie. 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
100
~ 1 in 3,427,543 Americans
Peak year
1990
8 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,792
Tracked since 1978
Census
Chavie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 166 people with the first name Chavie, which placed it at #42,903 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
#42,903
National first-name rank
People counted
166
166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chavie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chavie is White at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Black (1.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.2%). 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 Chavie 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 Chavie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.0% · 161
- Black or African American1.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 2
Popularity
Chavie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chavie from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 33 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chavie 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 Chavie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chavies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chavie
The name Chavie has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, likely emerging in the medieval period. It is believed to be a diminutive form of the Hebrew name Chava, which itself derives from the biblical name Eve, the first woman according to the Book of Genesis. The root of the name Chava is related to the Hebrew word "chavah," meaning "life" or "living."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Chavie can be found in the 12th century work "Sefer HaYashar" (The Book of the Upright), where it is mentioned as a variant of Chava. This suggests that the name Chavie was already in use among Jewish communities in Europe during the Middle Ages.
In the 16th century, the name Chavie appears in various Jewish community records and rabbinical writings from Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland and Lithuania. This indicates that the name gained popularity among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in this region.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Chavie was Chavie Babad (1460-1535), a prominent Jewish scholar and kabbalist from Krakow, Poland. She was known for her extensive knowledge of the Kabbalah and her work in promoting the study of mystical texts among Jewish women.
Another individual of historical significance was Chavie Rapaport (1790-1867), a renowned writer and educator from Galicia (now part of Poland and Ukraine). She authored several works on Jewish ethics and traditions, which were widely read in her time.
In the 19th century, the name Chavie was also found among Jewish communities in Russia. Chavie Grodzinski (1825-1892) was a notable figure, known for her philanthropic work and support of Jewish education in the Russian Empire.
Chavie Baumgarten (1870-1942) was a prominent Zionist activist from Austria who worked tirelessly for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. She was also a vocal advocate for women's rights and education.
Finally, Chavie Weissman (1905-1989) was a celebrated Yiddish writer and poet from Ukraine. Her works, which often explored themes of Jewish identity and the experiences of women, were widely acclaimed and translated into several languages.
While these are just a few examples, the name Chavie has a rich history within Jewish communities, reflecting its Hebrew roots and cultural significance over centuries.
People
Chavie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chavie 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
Chavie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chavie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 100 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chavie 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 3,427,543 US residents.
Is Chavie a common name?
We classify Chavie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chavie most popular?
The single biggest year for Chavie was 1990, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chavie is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chavie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 166 people with the name Chavie, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,903 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 Chavie 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 Chavie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chavie leans strongly female. 160 people counted with this name were female (96.4%), compared with 6 male bearers (3.6%). 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 Chavie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chavie is White at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Black (1.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.2%). 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 Chavie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chavie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.0% (161 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 Chavie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chavie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chavie 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 Chavie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chavie 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 Chavie 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 Chavie as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.