Chelise
A feminine given name derived from the Greek word "chole" meaning "bile" or "gall".
Name Census estimates that about 182 living Americans carry the first name Chelise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chelise today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chelise births was 1991 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chelise. 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
182
~ 1 in 1,883,266 Americans
Peak year
1991
14 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2005 SSA rank
#13,307
Tracked since 1969
Census
Chelise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237 people with the first name Chelise, which placed it at #34,427 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
#34,427
National first-name rank
People counted
237
237 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chelise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chelise is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Hispanic (11.0%). 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 Chelise 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 Chelise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.7% · 125
- Black or African American31.2% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino11.0% · 26
- Two or more races3.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Chelise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chelise from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 69 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
Chelise 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 Chelise 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 Chelise
The name Chelise is thought to have its origins in the Old French language, with roots dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to be a combination of the French words "chéri" meaning beloved or darling, and the suffix "-ise" which was commonly used to form feminine names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chelise can be found in a 13th-century manuscript from the Duchy of Burgundy, where it was used to refer to a young noblewoman. This suggests that the name may have initially been popular among the aristocratic classes of France during the High Middle Ages.
While the name Chelise does not appear to have any direct references in major religious texts or ancient chronicles, it does bear a striking resemblance to the Old French name "Celise," which was derived from the Latin word "caelestis," meaning heavenly or celestial. This connection could indicate that the name Chelise may have been associated with ideas of beauty, grace, and divine favor in its early usage.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Chelise. One of the earliest was Chelise de Montfort, a 14th-century French noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Jeanne d'Évreux. Another was Chelise Beaumont, a 16th-century French poet and patron of the arts, known for her patronage of renowned writers and artists of the Renaissance era.
In the 18th century, Chelise Delacroix was a celebrated French ballerina who performed at the Opéra de Paris and was renowned for her exceptional grace and technique. Chelise Durand, born in 1792, was a French Revolutionary who played a pivotal role in the uprisings of 1848, advocating for women's rights and social reform.
Moving into the 19th century, Chelise Moreau was a prominent French botanist and explorer who made significant contributions to the study of plant life in the Amazon rainforest. Her extensive collections and detailed observations were highly influential in the field of botany.
While the name Chelise may have originated in France, its usage has spread to other regions over the centuries, with individuals bearing this name making their mark in various fields throughout history.
People
Chelise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chelise 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
Chelise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chelise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 182 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chelise 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 1,883,266 US residents.
Is Chelise a common name?
We classify Chelise as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chelise most popular?
The single biggest year for Chelise was 1991, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chelise is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chelise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237 people with the name Chelise, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,427 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 Chelise 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 Chelise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chelise appears almost entirely female. Of the 234 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Chelise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chelise is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Hispanic (11.0%). 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 Chelise most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chelise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.7% (125 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 Chelise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chelise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chelise 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 Chelise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chelise 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 Chelise 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 Chelise?
Find out how many Americans are named Chelise on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.