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Chaim

#666 in 2025Boys' name

Life

Chaim has been given to 12,078 babies in the U.S. since 1942. In 2025 it ranked #666 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 462 recorded.

Babies named Chaim, 2025

1 in 8,070

Chaim over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Chaim: meaning, origin, and history

Life

Hebrew

What Chaim means

Chaim means “life”, associated with חַיִּים.

Origin, language, and formation

Chaim is used in English and German. Its origins include Hebrew.

Chaim comes through Hebrew חַיִּים.

Pronunciation and spelling

In German, Chaim is pronounced /ˈxaːiːm/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 12,072 boys were recorded with the name Chaim between 1942 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 462 in 2022; its best national rank was #607 in 2022.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #673 in 2020 to #666 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #715 in 2015 to #666 in 2025.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Chaim between 1985 and 1985. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1985; its best national rank was #9,472 in 1985.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Chaim?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 8,070
411 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 4,160
0.02% of boys
Rank, 2025
#666
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
5,592 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Chaim sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1001%
School of 5006%

Put another way: gather 5,592 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Chaim. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Chaims were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Chaim was born before 2008 — so the typical Chaim is around 17 today.

Median birth year
2008
About 17 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
26.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
64.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
12,006
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 26.6% of all recorded uses (3,209).

Is Chaim rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+16
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+7
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+49
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.18×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
89.0%
Peak was 2022 (462)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
9.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#607
2022

Spellings of Chaim

Chaim is not the most common spelling — Craig is, with 31.5% against Chaim's 1.3%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Chaim is used

Across 2016–2025, Chaim was most concentrated in New Jersey — about 1 in 339 boys, against 1 in 1,835 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in 100,000).

1295 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Jersey1 in 339
  2. 2New York1 in 403
  3. 3Maryland1 in 5,000
  4. 4Connecticut1 in 12,500
  5. 5Illinois1 in 12,500
  6. 6Ohio1 in 20,000
  7. 7Florida1 in 25,000
  8. 8California1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Chaim around the world

Where Chaim ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #976
    in 2025
  • France
    1926–2023
    #2,781
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,817
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1996–1996
    #540
    in 1996

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Chaim

People whose public names include Chaim, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Chaim in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Chaim. Linked forms have their own page here.

HaimKhaimChajim

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Chaim by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#666
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 7
Best rank ever
#607
2022
Peak year
2022
462 that year
First recorded
1942
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
12,072
Count in 2025
411

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,472
1985
Peak year
1985
6 that year
First recorded
1985
Last recorded
1985
All-time count
6
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Chaim

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ChaceChazChasCharleyChazzChampChanceChadwickChayseChayceChaunceyChasenChaseChanningChaddCharlyChasonChanseChaelEphraimChanChaytonChandlerChavez

Names with a curve like Chaim

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Chaim, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

SamirReyHassanVincenzoDarioMosheValentinFrancoYosefSamsonMarceloAnders

Sibling names for Chaim

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Chaim

Top names of 2022, Chaim's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2022Boys' names starting with CHebrew Boy Names