Chea

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Healthy

Chea has been given to 95 babies in the U.S. since 1971. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1987, with 8 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 84% girls, 16% boys all-time.

Babies named Chea, 2004

1 in 764,000

Chea over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Chea over time

In 2004, Chea went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19712004

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Chea: meaning, origin, and history

Healthy

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Chea means

Chea means “healthy”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Chea is used in Khmer.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈciə/ for Chea.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 80 girls were recorded with the name Chea between 1971 and 2004. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1987; its best national rank was #7,518 in 1971.

In the United States, 15 boys were recorded with the name Chea between 1977 and 1995. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1977; its best national rank was #5,983 in 1977.

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.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Chea?

Chea had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2004, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2004: 1 in 764,000; 5 of 3,820,181 births
Among girls only: 1 in 367,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2004: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 529,591 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Chea sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2004 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 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 529,591 children born in 2004 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Chea. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cheas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Chea was born before 1987 — so the typical Chea is around 38 today.

Median birth year: 1987; About 38 years old
Biggest decade: 1980s; 41.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 78.8%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 80; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1980s — 41.3% of all recorded uses (33).

Is Chea 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1987 (8)
Years since peak: 38; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 16.6% average annual change
Best rank ever: #7,518; 1971

Spellings of Chea

Chea is not the most common spelling — Cora is, with 31.3% against Chea's 0.02%.

Cora31.3%156,028
Cara10.7%53,305
Cheri7.2%36,068
Lea6.8%33,848
Cleo6.7%33,565
Thea4.0%20,113
Rhea4.0%19,737
Chaya3.1%15,674

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.

Chea around the world

Where Chea 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.

South Australia
1994–1994
#716
in 1994

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Chea by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #7,518; 1971
Peak year: 1987; 8 that year
First recorded: 1971
Last recorded: 2004
All-time count: 80
Count in 2025: Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #5,983; 1977
Peak year: 1977; 5 that year
First recorded: 1977
Last recorded: 1995
All-time count: 15
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Chea

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

Chey Chen Chele Chee Chene Chez Chevi Chena Chezni Cheng Chesa Chely Chesni Chenel Nohea Cherye Cherre Chevie Chelli Cheral Chelan Cheza Chenay Chenee

Sibling names for Chea

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

For a sister

Shantell Janay Ashely Kassie Anthony Kyle Domonique Keshia

For a brother

Derik Derrell Darell Whitney Elizabeth Kelsey Garrick Lauren

Explore around Chea

Top names of 1987, Chea's peak year The 1980s in full Other names that peaked in 1971 Girls' names starting with C Khmer Boy Names Khmer Girl Names Khmer Names