Chetan
A male name of Sanskrit origin meaning "consciousness" or "awareness".
Name Census estimates that about 462 living Americans carry the first name Chetan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chetan today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chetan births was 2012 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chetan. 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
462
~ 1 in 741,893 Americans
Peak year
2012
21 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,069
Tracked since 1972
Popularity
Chetan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chetan 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 123 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chetan 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 Chetan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chetans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chetan
The name Chetan has its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It derives from the Sanskrit word "chet," which means "consciousness" or "awareness." The name is believed to have emerged during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
Chetan is a popular name among Hindus, primarily in India, and it has been used for centuries. The name has been referenced in various ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, where it is often associated with the concept of self-realization and spiritual awakening.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chetan can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE. In the epic, Chetan is mentioned as the name of a sage or a wise man.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chetan. One of the most famous was Chetan Sharma, an Indian cricketer who played for the Indian national team from 1983 to 1994. He was born in 1966 and is best known for bowling the infamous last over in the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup final against Pakistan.
Another noteworthy figure was Chetan Anand, an Indian film director, screenwriter, and actor who lived from 1915 to 1997. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Indian parallel cinema movement and is known for films like "Neecha Nagar" and "Haqeeqat."
Chetan Bhagat, an Indian author and columnist born in 1974, is also a prominent bearer of the name. His novels, which explore contemporary urban Indian life, have been hugely popular and have been adapted into successful Bollywood films.
In the field of science, Chetan Ghosh was an Indian nuclear physicist who made significant contributions to the development of India's nuclear program. He lived from 1909 to 1998 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
Lastly, Chetan Chauhan was an Indian cricketer and politician who played for the Indian national team from 1969 to 1981. Born in 1947, he later served as a member of the Indian Parliament and held various administrative positions in Indian cricket.
People
Chetan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chetan 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
Chetan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chetan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 462 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chetan 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 741,893 US residents.
Is Chetan a common name?
We classify Chetan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 473 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chetan most popular?
The single biggest year for Chetan was 2012, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chetan is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Chetan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chetan 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.
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.