Chinelo

#15,407 in 2025Girls' name

God is thinking

Chinelo has been given to 141 babies in the U.S. since 1983. In 2025 it ranked #15,407 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1993, with 11 recorded.

Babies named Chinelo, 2025

1 in 663,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Chinelo: meaning, origin, and history

God is thinking

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Chinelo means

Chinelo means “God is thinking”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Chinelo is used in Igbo.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 136 girls were recorded with the name Chinelo between 1983 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1993; its best national rank was #7,598 in 1993.

Over 10 years its rank fell, from #14,897 in 2015 to #15,407 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Chinelo between 1993 and 1993. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1993; its best national rank was #8,927 in 1993.

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 Chinelo?

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

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 663,000; 5 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 321,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #15,407; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 459,581 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Chinelo 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 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 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 459,581 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Chinelo. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Chinelos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Chinelo was born before 2000 — so the typical Chinelo is around 25 today.

Median birth year: 2000; About 25 years old
Biggest decade: 1990s; 39.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 50.0%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 136; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1990s — 39.7% of all recorded uses (54).

Is Chinelo 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: −510; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.83×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 45.5%; Peak was 1993 (11)
Years since peak: 32; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 27.0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #7,598; 1993

Spellings of Chinelo

Chinelo is not the most common spelling — Chanel is, with 71.0% against Chinelo's 0.51%.

Chanel71.0%19,097
Cielo17.7%4,764
Chanell10.8%2,897
Chinelo0.51%136

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.

Chinelo around the world

Where Chinelo 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
1999–2023
#5,688
in 2023
Ireland
2013–2013
#894
in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Central Statistics Office. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO data under CC BY 4.0.

Chinelo by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #15,407
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: New entry
Best rank ever: #7,598; 1993
Peak year: 1993; 11 that year
First recorded: 1983
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 136
Count in 2025: 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #8,927; 1993
Peak year: 1993; 5 that year
First recorded: 1993
Last recorded: 1993
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Chinelo

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

Chizara Chicago Chinenye Chikaima Chiyeko Chidera Chianna Chihiro Chizuko Chikita Chinaza Chidimma Chirsty Chimene Chiante Chizaram Chinara Chinita Chivonne Chiann Chinwe Chisom Chianne Chianti

Sibling names for Chinelo

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

Danyelle Maranda Shanice Breonna Allyssa Jessika Salena Breanne

For a brother

Elizabeth Brandan Trever Mitchel Bradly Derrell Jarod Samual

Explore around Chinelo

Top names of 1993, Chinelo's peak year The 1990s in full Other names that peaked in 1993 Girls' names starting with C Igbo Girl Names