Cheyenna
An Indigenous American feminine name meaning "one who speaks truthfully".
Name Census estimates that about 694 living Americans carry the first name Cheyenna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cheyenna today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cheyenna births was 1996 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cheyenna. 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
694
~ 1 in 493,882 Americans
Peak year
1996
62 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2014 SSA rank
#14,973
Tracked since 1978
Census
Cheyenna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 597 people with the first name Cheyenna, which placed it at #18,138 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
#18,138
National first-name rank
People counted
597
597 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cheyenna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheyenna is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (7.9%). 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 Cheyenna 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 Cheyenna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 407
- Two or more races9.9% · 59
- American Indian and Alaska Native7.9% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 44
- Black or African American5.5% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 7
Popularity
Cheyenna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cheyenna from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 377 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
Cheyenna 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 Cheyenna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cheyennas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Ohio, California, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Cheyenna, while Michigan, Kentucky, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cheyenna
The given name Cheyenna has its origins in the Cheyenne language, spoken by the Cheyenne Native American tribe. The name is derived from the Cheyenne word "Tsé-héstaestse," which means "beautiful people" or "people of a different style." The Cheyenne tribe historically inhabited regions across present-day Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cheyenna dates back to the late 18th century, when it was used by members of the Cheyenne tribe. It gained wider recognition in the 19th century as interactions between the Cheyenne people and European settlers increased.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Cheyenna was Cheyenna Black Coyote, a respected Cheyenne warrior and leader in the late 18th century. He was known for his bravery and diplomacy in negotiations with the United States government.
Another famous Cheyenna was Cheyenna Tall Bull, a Cheyenne woman born in the early 19th century. She was a skilled artist and craftswoman, renowned for her intricate beadwork and quillwork designs. Her works are preserved in various museums and historical collections.
In the mid-19th century, Cheyenna Bent was a prominent figure in the American West. She was the daughter of William Bent, a fur trader, and his Cheyenne wife, Owl Woman. Cheyenna Bent played an essential role as an interpreter and mediator between the Cheyenne tribe and the American government.
Cheyenna Edmunds, born in the late 19th century, was a Cheyenne activist and educator. She dedicated her life to preserving and promoting the Cheyenne language and culture, working tirelessly to establish schools and educational programs for her people.
In the 20th century, Cheyenna Carron was a renowned Cheyenne artist and author. Born in the early 1900s, she is best known for her vibrant paintings depicting the traditional life and ceremonies of the Cheyenne people. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and publications, celebrating the rich cultural heritage of her tribe.
People
Cheyenna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cheyenna 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
Cheyenna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cheyenna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 694 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cheyenna 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 493,882 US residents.
Is Cheyenna a common name?
We classify Cheyenna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 715 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cheyenna most popular?
The single biggest year for Cheyenna was 1996, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cheyenna is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cheyenna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 597 people with the name Cheyenna, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,138 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 Cheyenna 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 Cheyenna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cheyenna appears almost entirely female. Of the 602 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Cheyenna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cheyenna is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (7.9%). 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 Cheyenna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cheyenna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (407 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 Cheyenna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cheyenna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cheyenna 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 Cheyenna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cheyenna 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 Cheyenna 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 Americans are named Cheyenna?
You can see how many Americans are named Cheyenna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.