Chayah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "life" or "alive".
Name Census estimates that about 111 living Americans carry the first name Chayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chayah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chayah births was 2007 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chayah. 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
111
~ 1 in 3,087,877 Americans
Peak year
2007
9 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,712
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Chayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chayah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 39 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Chayah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chayah 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 Chayah 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 Chayah
The name Chayah is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical Hebrew word "חַיָּה" (ḥayyāh), which means "life" or "living". It is a feminine name that has been used among Jewish communities for centuries.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Chayah can be traced back to the Hebrew Bible, where it appears as the name of one of the wives of Lamech, a descendant of Cain. In Genesis 4:19, it is written: "And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah."
In Jewish tradition, Chayah is often associated with the concept of life and vitality. It is believed that the name carries a blessing for a long and fulfilling life. Additionally, the name has been used as a symbol of hope and resilience, particularly in times of hardship or adversity.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Chayah was Chayah Bat Shalom, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Spain. She is renowned for her contributions to Hebrew poetry and her commentary on the Torah.
Another notable figure was Chayah Rubina, a 16th-century Jewish scholar and businesswoman from Salonika, Greece. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Jewish law and her involvement in the local Jewish community.
In the 18th century, Chayah Mushkat was a prominent Jewish educator and author who lived in Poland. She wrote several books on Jewish ethics and philosophy, which were widely read and studied in her time.
During the 19th century, Chayah Kaufman was a renowned Jewish philanthropist and social activist from Lithuania. She dedicated her life to improving the lives of underprivileged members of the Jewish community and advocating for women's rights.
More recently, Chayah Koren was a 20th-century Israeli artist and sculptor, known for her abstract and avant-garde works. Her sculptures can be found in various public spaces and museums throughout Israel.
While the name Chayah has deep roots in Jewish culture and tradition, it has also gained popularity among other communities and cultures over time, transcending its original religious and cultural boundaries.
People
Chayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chayah 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
Chayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chayah 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 3,087,877 US residents.
Is Chayah a common name?
We classify Chayah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 112 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Chayah was 2007, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chayah is about 14 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 Chayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chayah 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 Chayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chayah 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 Chayah 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 Americans are named Chayah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.