Chyla
A feminine given name of Native American Hopi origin meaning "born of water".
Name Census estimates that about 422 living Americans carry the first name Chyla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chyla today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chyla births was 1983 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chyla. 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 Chyla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
422
~ 1 in 812,214 Americans
Peak year
1983
36 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,026
Tracked since 1976
Census
Chyla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 346 people with the first name Chyla, which placed it at #26,749 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
#26,749
National first-name rank
People counted
346
346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chyla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chyla is Black at 45.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.9%) and Two or More Races (9.5%). 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 Chyla 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 Chyla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.4% · 157
- White30.9% · 107
- Two or more races9.5% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.0% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 7
Popularity
Chyla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chyla from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 125 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Chyla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chyla 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 Chyla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chylas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chyla
The name Chyla has its origins in the ancient Slavic languages, specifically from the Old Church Slavonic word "khylos," which means "bent" or "crooked." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone with a physical characteristic or trait related to being bent or crooked in some way.
In the early medieval period, the name Chyla was primarily used in various Slavic regions, including parts of modern-day Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and parts of Eastern Europe. It was especially popular among the Slavic tribes and communities that inhabited these areas during that time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chyla can be found in a 9th-century manuscript from the Moravian region, which was part of the Great Moravian Empire. This ancient document mentions a nobleman named Chyla who held a prominent position in the court of Prince Rastislav.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Chyla continued to be used among the Slavic populations, although it remained relatively uncommon compared to other popular names of the era. Historical records from the 13th century mention a Chyla who was a skilled artisan and sculptor in the city of Krakow, Poland.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Chyla Vitkovic gained recognition as a respected scholar and philosopher in the Czech lands. He wrote extensively on various topics, including ethics, logic, and metaphysics, and his works were widely read and discussed during his lifetime (1515-1589).
Another individual of historical significance who bore the name Chyla was a 17th-century Polish military commander named Chyla Abramowicz. He played a crucial role in defending the city of Lviv (now in Ukraine) against the Swedish invasion during the second Northern War (1655-1660).
Moving forward in time, the 19th century saw the birth of Chyla Natsir, a prominent Indonesian nationalist and advocate for women's rights. She was a vocal supporter of the Indonesian independence movement and worked tirelessly to promote education and empowerment for women in her country (1858-1924).
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and contexts in which the name Chyla has been used throughout history, spanning various regions, cultures, and time periods. While not a widely popular name, it has left its mark in historical records and is deeply rooted in the linguistic heritage of the Slavic languages.
People
Chyla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chyla 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
Chyla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chyla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 422 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chyla 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 812,214 US residents.
Is Chyla a common name?
We classify Chyla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 433 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chyla most popular?
The single biggest year for Chyla was 1983, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chyla is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chyla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 346 people with the name Chyla, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,749 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 Chyla 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 Chyla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chyla appears almost entirely female. Of the 345 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Chyla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chyla is Black at 45.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.9%) and Two or More Races (9.5%). 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 Chyla most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chyla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.4% (157 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 Chyla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chyla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chyla 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 Chyla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chyla 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 Chyla 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 have Chyla as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Chyla on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.