Chelesa
A feminine given name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from a place name.
Name Census estimates that about 172 living Americans carry the first name Chelesa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chelesa today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chelesa births was 1990 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chelesa. 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
172
~ 1 in 1,992,758 Americans
Peak year
1990
25 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
1998 SSA rank
#14,592
Tracked since 1969
Census
Chelesa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 219 people with the first name Chelesa, which placed it at #36,320 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
#36,320
National first-name rank
People counted
219
219 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chelesa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chelesa is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (34.2%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Chelesa 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 Chelesa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.5% · 115
- Black or African American34.2% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 6
- Two or more races2.7% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
Popularity
Chelesa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chelesa from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 117 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chelesa 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 Chelesa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chelesas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chelesa
The name Chelesa has its roots in the Old English language, originating from the Anglo-Saxon period of the 5th to 11th centuries. Derived from the Old English words "ceole" meaning "throat" and "ea" meaning "river," the name Chelesa originally referred to a settlement or village located along the banks of a river.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chelesa can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry lists "Chelchedhyth" as a village in the county of Middlesex, which is believed to be the modern-day area of Chelsea in London.
Throughout medieval times, the name Chelesa was primarily used as a place name, referring to various settlements and villages across England. It wasn't until the 16th century that Chelesa began to be adopted as a given name for individuals.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the name Chelesa was Chelesa Fynes, born in 1569, an English poet and courtier during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Another notable figure was Chelesa Gardiner, born in 1635, who served as a prominent military officer and politician during the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, the name Chelesa gained popularity among the nobility and upper classes. Lady Chelesa Montagu, born in 1720, was a prominent socialite and writer, known for her literary salons and advocacy for women's education. Sir Chelesa Williamson, born in 1745, was a renowned naval officer and explorer who led several expeditions to the Pacific Ocean.
As the name spread beyond England, it found its way into other cultures and languages. In the 19th century, Chelesa Tolstoy, born in 1828, was a Russian aristocrat and the wife of the famous author Leo Tolstoy, playing a significant role in his literary and philosophical works.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Chelesa throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Chelesa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chelesa 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
Chelesa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chelesa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 172 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chelesa 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 1,992,758 US residents.
Is Chelesa a common name?
We classify Chelesa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 180 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chelesa most popular?
The single biggest year for Chelesa was 1990, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chelesa is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chelesa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 219 people with the name Chelesa, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,320 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 Chelesa 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 Chelesa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chelesa appears almost entirely female. Of the 217 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Chelesa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chelesa is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Black (34.2%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Chelesa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chelesa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (115 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 Chelesa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chelesa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chelesa 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 Chelesa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chelesa 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 Chelesa 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 Chelesa?
See how many people have the name Chelesa on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.