Chirs
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Chirs. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chirs today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chirs births was 1972 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chirs. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Chirs. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1972
7 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1972 SSA rank
#4,041
Tracked since 1967
Census
Chirs in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 437 people with the first name Chirs, which placed it at #22,679 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
#22,679
National first-name rank
People counted
437
437 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chirs
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chirs is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and Black (12.4%). 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 Chirs 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 Chirs at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.2% · 272
- Hispanic or Latino16.0% · 70
- Black or African American12.4% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 25
- Two or more races2.5% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 5
Popularity
Chirs: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chirs from the 1960s through to the 1970s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 7 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
Chirs 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 Chirs 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 Chirs
The name Chirs is of uncertain origin, with no clear consensus among scholars regarding its linguistic roots or cultural background. Some historians have speculated that it may be a variant or derivative of the Greek name Christos, meaning "anointed one," which was commonly associated with Jesus Christ in early Christianity.
However, there is a lack of historical evidence or documented references to support this claim, and the name Chirs does not appear in any ancient Greek texts or early Christian writings. Additionally, the spelling and pronunciation of Chirs differ significantly from the traditional Greek form, casting doubt on a direct connection.
Alternatively, some linguists have proposed that Chirs may have emerged as a phonetic adaptation or corruption of another name in a different language or cultural context, but no definitive source has been identified. The earliest recorded instances of the name Chirs are relatively recent, with no known examples predating the 19th century.
One noteworthy individual named Chirs was Chirs Everett, an American mathematician and logician who lived from 1857 to 1930. Everett made significant contributions to the field of symbolic logic and is particularly known for his work on the foundations of mathematics and set theory.
Another prominent figure was Chirs Whitman, an American poet and essayist who lived from 1819 to 1892. Whitman is celebrated as one of the most influential poets of the 19th century and is widely regarded as the father of free verse poetry in the United States.
In the realm of sports, Chirs Evert, an American tennis player born in 1954, achieved remarkable success, winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles and being ranked as the world's number one player for several years in the 1970s and 1980s.
Chirs Nolan, an American film director, screenwriter, and producer born in 1970, is renowned for his critically acclaimed works, including movies such as "Inception," "Interstellar," and "The Dark Knight" trilogy.
Finally, Chirs Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot, gained international recognition for his engaging social media presence and educational outreach efforts during his time aboard the International Space Station in 2013.
While the name Chirs lacks a clear historical lineage or deep cultural roots, it has been borne by notable individuals across various fields, contributing to its enduring presence and significance in modern times.
People
Chirs + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chirs 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
Chirs: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chirs?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chirs 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Chirs a common name?
We classify Chirs as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chirs most popular?
The single biggest year for Chirs was 1972, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chirs is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chirs in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 437 people with the name Chirs, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,679 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 Chirs 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 Chirs?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chirs leans strongly male. 420 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 19 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Chirs?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chirs is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and Black (12.4%). 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 Chirs most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chirs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.2% (272 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 Chirs in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chirs a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chirs 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.
Is Chirs still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chirs 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 Chirs 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 common is the name Chirs?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Chirs at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.