Chou

Boys' name

Alternate transcription of Kanji

Chou has been given to 60 babies in the U.S. since 1981. 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 1989, with 9 recorded.

Babies named Chou, 1996

1 in 729,000

Chou over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Chou: meaning, origin, and history

Alternate transcription of Kanji

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Chou means

Chou is a alternate transcription of Kanji.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Chou is used in Japanese (Rare).

Another recorded pronunciation is /t͡ɕo̞ː/ for Chou.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Kanji.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 60 boys were recorded with the name Chou between 1981 and 1996. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1989; its best national rank was #5,230 in 1989.

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 Chou?

Chou had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1996, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1996: 1 in 729,000; 5 of 3,646,048 births
Among boys only: 1 in 379,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1996: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 505,451 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Chou 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 1996 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 505,451 children born in 1996 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Chou. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Chous were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Chou was born before 1989 — so the typical Chou is around 36 today.

Median birth year: 1989; About 36 years old
Biggest decade: 1980s; 51.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 60; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1980s — 51.7% of all recorded uses (31).

Is Chou 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 1989 (9)
Years since peak: 36; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 22.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #5,230; 1989

Spellings of Chou

Chou is not the most common spelling — Chad is, with 77.9% against Chou's 0.02%.

Chad77.9%240,728
Coy5.6%17,348
Chaz3.2%9,909
Chet2.0%6,180
Shon1.7%5,172
Thor1.6%4,857
Lou1.3%4,089
Chip1.1%3,493

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.

Chou 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: #5,230; 1989
Peak year: 1989; 9 that year
First recorded: 1981
Last recorded: 1996
All-time count: 60
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Chou

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

Chol Chord Choya Choua Chon Choyce Chosyn Choice Chozyn Choszen Chong Chozin Choxen Chozynn Chosynn Shou Chozen Chosen Chosenn

Sibling names for Chou

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

Stephani Ashli Felisha Jalisa Britany Leandra Lissette Kala

For a brother

Elizabeth Kelsey Garrick Lauren Hakeem Demario Jerrell Arron

Explore around Chou

Top names of 1989, Chou's peak year The 1980s in full Other names that peaked in 1989 Boys' names starting with C