Cheyane
A feminine name of Native American origin referring to the Cheyenne people.
Name Census estimates that about 170 living Americans carry the first name Cheyane. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cheyane today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheyane births was 1998 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheyane. 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
170
~ 1 in 2,016,202 Americans
Peak year
1998
20 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2009 SSA rank
#17,893
Tracked since 1991
Census
Cheyane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 214 people with the first name Cheyane, which placed it at #36,840 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
#36,840
National first-name rank
People counted
214
214 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cheyane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheyane is White at 66.4%. The next largest groups are Black (11.2%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). 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 Cheyane 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 Cheyane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.4% · 142
- Black or African American11.2% · 24
- Two or more races10.3% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 3
Popularity
Cheyane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheyane from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 98 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Cheyane remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cheyane 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 Cheyane 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 Cheyane
The name Cheyane has its origins in the Native American Cheyenne tribe, one of the most renowned and influential Plains Indian nations. The Cheyenne people are believed to have migrated from present-day Minnesota to the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada between the 16th and 18th centuries.
The name Cheyane is derived from the Cheyenne word "Tsėhéstáno," which translates to "those who are alien" or "those who are separated from us." This name reflects the Cheyenne tribe's history of migration and separation from other tribes. The spelling variation "Cheyane" is likely an anglicized version of the original Cheyenne word.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Cheyane can be found in the journals of French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who encountered the Cheyenne tribe during his travels in the late 17th century. The name also appears in various historical accounts and records related to the westward expansion of the United States and the conflicts between Native American tribes and European settlers.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cheyane. One of the most famous is Cheyane Westpunter (c. 1860-1958), a Cheyenne warrior who fought in the Indian Wars and later became a respected elder and spokesperson for his tribe. Another notable Cheyane was Cheyane Black Horse (1868-1949), a Cheyenne leader and negotiator who played a crucial role in preserving the tribe's culture and traditions.
Other notable individuals named Cheyane include:
1. Cheyane Little Coyote (1856-1927), a Cheyenne medicine woman and healer.
2. Cheyane Red Cloud (1822-1909), a renowned Oglala Lakota leader and diplomat.
3. Cheyane Tah-Chee (c. 1840-1914), a Cheyenne warrior and leader during the Indian Wars.
4. Cheyane Two Moons (1843-1924), a Cheyenne chief and peacemaker.
5. Cheyane White Bull (1850-1934), a Cheyenne warrior and respected elder.
The name Cheyane carries a rich cultural heritage and serves as a connection to the history and traditions of the Cheyenne people. Its enduring presence throughout the centuries is a testament to the resilience and influence of this Native American nation.
People
Cheyane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheyane 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
Cheyane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheyane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 170 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheyane 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 2,016,202 US residents.
Is Cheyane a common name?
We classify Cheyane as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 174 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheyane most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheyane was 1998, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheyane is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cheyane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 214 people with the name Cheyane, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,840 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 Cheyane 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 Cheyane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheyane leans strongly female. 208 people counted with this name were female (95.9%), compared with 9 male bearers (4.1%). 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 Cheyane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheyane is White at 66.4%. The next largest groups are Black (11.2%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). 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 Cheyane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cheyane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.4% (142 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 Cheyane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cheyane a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cheyane 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 Cheyane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cheyane 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 Cheyane 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 Cheyane?
Find out how many Americans are named Cheyane on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.