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Chen

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Chen has been given to 250 babies in the U.S. since 1977. 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 1983, with 9 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 77% boys, 23% girls all-time.

Babies named Chen, 2024

1 in 418,000

Chen over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02.557.51018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2024, Chen went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19772024

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.

Chen: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Chen means

Chen has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Chen

One of the source’s documented entries for Chen records a meaning of dawn, morning or time, heavenly body.

One of the source’s documented entries for Chen records a meaning of grace, charm.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 193 boys were recorded with the name Chen between 1977 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1983; its best national rank was #4,184 in 1983.

In the United States, 57 girls were recorded with the name Chen between 1982 and 2013. Its highest annual count was 8 in 2007; its best national rank was #10,695 in 1992.

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.

How common is Chen?

Chen had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024
1 in 418,000
8 of 3,342,801 births
Among boys only
1 in 215,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
289,633 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Chen 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 2024 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 289,633 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Chen. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Chens were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Chen was born before 2005 — so the typical Chen is around 20 today.

Median birth year
2005
About 20 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
28.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
65.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
193
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 28.5% of all recorded uses (55).

Is Chen 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 1983 (9)
Years since peak
42
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
33.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#4,184
1983

Spellings of Chen

Chen is not the most common spelling — Owen is, with 22.5% against Chen's 0.02%.

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 Chen is used

Across 1910–2025, Chen was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 2,664,768 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in —

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. Chen has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Chen around the world

Where Chen 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
    2005–2019
    #4,702
    in 2019
  • Scotland
    2009–2016
    #707
    in 2016
  • Ireland
    2012–2012
    #718
    in 2012
  • France
    1978–2015
    #5,734
    in 2015
  • Canada
    1992–2016
    #2,441
    in 2016
  • South Australia
    1981–2013
    #754
    in 2013

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

Chen by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,184
1983
Peak year
1983
9 that year
First recorded
1977
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
193
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#10,695
1992
Peak year
2007
8 that year
First recorded
1982
Last recorded
2013
All-time count
57
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Chen

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

ChettCheickCheeChezCheoRhenCherChengZhenCheyOshenChetanCheskyCheikhCherifChezkyRohenChedBohenYichenChevisCherryCheCheney

Sibling names for Chen

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 Chen

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