Chisom
A feminine Nigerian name meaning "God is good to me".
Name Census estimates that about 723 living Americans carry the first name Chisom. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Chisom today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chisom births was 2015 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chisom. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Chisom with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
723
~ 1 in 474,072 Americans
Peak year
2015
37 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,115
Tracked since 1989
Census
Chisom in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 908 people with the first name Chisom, which placed it at #13,344 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
#13,344
National first-name rank
People counted
908
908 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chisom
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chisom is Black at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Chisom 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 Chisom at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American93.4% · 848
- White3.9% · 35
- Two or more races1.2% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Chisom
Chisom is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 732 total registrations, 214 (29.2%) were male and 518 (70.8%) were female.
Chisom as a male name
- Ranked #9,115 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (14 births)
Chisom as a female name
- Ranked #10,415 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (30 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chisom on both sides of the split. Of the 908 people counted with this name, 292 were male (32.2%) and 616 were female (67.8%).
Popularity
Chisom: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chisom from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 281 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Chisom remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chisom 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 Chisom during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chisoms live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Maryland recorded the most babies named Chisom, while New York, Maryland, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chisom
The name Chisom is of Nigerian origin, derived from the Igbo language spoken in southeastern Nigeria. It is a relatively modern name, likely originating in the late 20th century.
The name Chisom is a combination of two Igbo words: "Chi" meaning "God" or "spiritual force," and "som" meaning "to lead" or "to guide." Therefore, the name can be interpreted as "God leads" or "guided by God."
While the name itself does not have a long historical record, it reflects the strong influence of traditional Igbo beliefs and spirituality, which have been passed down through generations in Nigeria. The Igbo people have a rich cultural heritage that emphasizes the importance of divine guidance and spiritual connections.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chisom can be found in a Nigerian newspaper article from the 1980s, where it was mentioned as a name given to a newborn child. However, it is likely that the name was in use before this, albeit in a more localized context.
In terms of notable individuals with the name Chisom, a few examples include:
1. Chisom Eze (born in 1995), a Nigerian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Kalmar FF in Sweden.
2. Chisom Egbuchulam (born in 1989), a Nigerian-American actress and model known for her roles in films like "Fist Fight" and "Battleship."
3. Chisom Okereke (born in 1993), a Nigerian professional basketball player who has played for several teams in Europe.
4. Chisom Uchenna Opara (born in 1988), a Nigerian author and filmmaker known for her work exploring themes of identity and cultural heritage.
5. Chisom Offiah (born in 1991), a Nigerian-British entrepreneur and co-founder of a technology startup based in London.
These individuals, spanning various fields such as sports, entertainment, and entrepreneurship, serve as examples of how the name Chisom has transcended its local origins and gained recognition on a broader scale.
People
Chisom + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chisom 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
Chisom: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chisom?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 723 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chisom 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 474,072 US residents.
Is Chisom a common name?
We classify Chisom as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 732 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chisom most popular?
The single biggest year for Chisom was 2015, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chisom is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chisom in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 908 people with the name Chisom, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,344 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 Chisom 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 Chisom?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chisom on both sides of the split. Of the 908 people counted with this name, 292 were male (32.2%) and 616 were female (67.8%). 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 Chisom?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chisom is Black at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Chisom most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chisom in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (848 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 Chisom in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chisom a female name?
Yes, 70.8% of people registered as Chisom 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 Chisom still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chisom 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 Chisom 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 named Chisom?
Want to know how many people have the name Chisom? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.