Chayim
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "life" or "alive".
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the first name Chayim. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chayim today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chayim births was 2016 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chayim. 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 Chayim with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
132
~ 1 in 2,596,624 Americans
Peak year
2016
9 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,372
Tracked since 1975
Census
Chayim in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 150 people with the first name Chayim, which placed it at #45,340 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
#45,340
National first-name rank
People counted
150
150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chayim
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chayim is White at 79.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Chayim 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 Chayim at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.3% · 119
- Black or African American13.3% · 20
- Two or more races5.3% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Chayim: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chayim from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 51 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Chayim remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chayim 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 Chayim during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chayims live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chayim
The name Chayim has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "chai," which means "life" or "living." The name is a plural form and translates to "lives" or "lives of."
In the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament, the phrase "Chayim Tovim" is used to express a wish for a good and long life. This phrase can be found in various contexts throughout the scriptures, emphasizing the importance and value placed on life in Jewish tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chayim can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions several individuals with the name Chayim, such as Chayim ben Zakkai, a renowned Jewish scholar and leader who lived during the 1st century CE.
Throughout history, the name Chayim has been borne by several notable figures within the Jewish community. One prominent example is Chayim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934), a renowned Hebrew poet and writer who is considered a pioneer of modern Hebrew literature. His works played a significant role in reviving and promoting the use of the Hebrew language.
Another famous individual named Chayim is Chayim Weizmann (1874-1952), a prominent Zionist leader and the first President of Israel. He was instrumental in the establishment of the State of Israel and played a crucial role in the Zionist movement.
In the realm of religion, Chayim ibn Attar (1696-1743) was a distinguished Moroccan-born rabbi and kabbalist. He authored several influential works on Jewish mysticism and was revered for his profound spiritual teachings.
Chayim Soltzer (1619-1688), a renowned rabbi and leader of the Jewish community in Frankfurt, Germany, is another notable figure who bore the name Chayim. He was highly respected for his scholarship and leadership during a period of significant challenges faced by the Jewish community in Europe.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Chayim, reflecting its deep-rooted connections to Jewish culture, tradition, and the celebration of life itself.
People
Chayim + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chayim 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
Chayim: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chayim?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chayim 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 2,596,624 US residents.
Is Chayim a common name?
We classify Chayim as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chayim most popular?
The single biggest year for Chayim was 2016, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chayim is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chayim in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 150 people with the name Chayim, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,340 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 Chayim 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 Chayim?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chayim leans strongly male. 150 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.6%). 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 Chayim?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chayim is White at 79.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Chayim most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chayim in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.3% (119 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 Chayim in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chayim a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chayim in the SSA data are male. 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 Chayim still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chayim 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 Chayim 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 called Chayim?
You can see how many people have the name Chayim on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.