Chloris
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "pale green" or "greenish-yellow".
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Chloris. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chloris today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chloris births was 1915 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chloris. 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
- • The typical person named Chloris is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Chloris' were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Chloris. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
1915
16 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1969 SSA rank
#6,764
Tracked since 1897
Census
Chloris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 131 people with the first name Chloris, which placed it at #48,547 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
#48,547
National first-name rank
People counted
131
131 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chloris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chloris is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (27.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%). 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 Chloris 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 Chloris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 62
- Black or African American27.5% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.3% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 4
- Two or more races3.1% · 4
Popularity
Chloris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chloris from the 1890s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 103 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chloris 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 Chloris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chloris' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chloris
The given name Chloris originates from ancient Greek mythology, deriving from the Greek word "chloros," meaning "pale green" or "greenish-yellow." It refers to the fresh and vibrant hues of spring foliage. The name is associated with Chloris, the Goddess of Flowers, who was responsible for nurturing and presiding over the blooming of plants and flowers.
In Greek mythology, Chloris was a nymph who caught the eye of Zephyrus, the gentle west wind. Zephyrus abducted and married Chloris, transforming her into the Goddess of Flowers. Together, they had a son named Karpos, the personification of fruits. Chloris' connection to nature and the rejuvenation of life in springtime made her a significant figure in ancient Greek culture.
The earliest known record of the name Chloris dates back to ancient Greek literature, where she is mentioned in works by Homer, Ovid, and other classical authors. The name appears in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," a renowned collection of mythological tales, further solidifying its place in Greek mythology.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chloris. One of the earliest was Chloris of Thebes (c. 450 BC), a Greek playwright known for her tragedies and comedies. Another notable figure was Chloris of Cyzicus (c. 300 BC), a Greek philosopher and follower of the Cynic school of thought.
In the 17th century, the name Chloris was used by the French poet and critic François Malherbe (1555-1628) as a poetic pseudonym for his muse, Mademoiselle de Gournay. The French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) also depicted Chloris in his painting "The Empire of Flora" (c. 1631), showcasing her significance in art and literature.
More recently, Chloris Leachman (1926-2023) was an American actress and comedian, best known for her roles in films such as "The Last Picture Show" and "Young Frankenstein." She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1971 for her performance in "The Last Picture Show."
While the name Chloris has deep roots in Greek mythology and has been used throughout history, it remains a relatively uncommon name in modern times, perhaps due to its unique and somewhat unconventional sound.
People
Chloris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chloris 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
Chloris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chloris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chloris 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 24,482,453 US residents.
Is Chloris a common name?
We classify Chloris as "Very Rare". It ranks above 34% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 230 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chloris most popular?
The single biggest year for Chloris was 1915, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chloris is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chloris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 131 people with the name Chloris, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,547 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 Chloris 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 Chloris?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chloris leans strongly female. 126 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 9 male bearers (6.7%). 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 Chloris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chloris is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (27.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%). 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 Chloris most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chloris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (62 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 Chloris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chloris a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chloris 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 Chloris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chloris 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 Chloris 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 Chloris?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.