Chaya

What Chaya means

Means “living”

From Hebrew חַיָּה (ḥayyā, “living”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Chaya” (revision 92746244), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Chaya?

US: Rising: up from #743 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #965 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 504 girls got the name (#599 that year). First in the US records in 1947.

How common

• About 1 in 3,221 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,871 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NJ (4.08 per 1,000 girls), NY (3.46 per 1,000 girls), MD (0.3 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Chaya is #587 in the US and #705 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Chaya were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Shaya36 US · 9 E&W
• Shaye9 US
• Shya6 US · 3 E&W
• Shaiya6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Chaya

Girls

• Eliana#10Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #102 in 2015, #10 in 2025. 6 letters, starting with a vowel
• Eden#70possibly “steppe, garden”^*
• Selah#216“to hang”^*
• Naomi#47“my pleasantness”^*
• Eliza#115Editor’s note Up from #175 in 2015 to #115 in 2025 in the US
• Zara#212“flower”^*

For a brother

• Avi#832“father”^*
• Asa#483“physician, doctor, healer”^*
• Yosef#663Editor’s note Up from #708 in 2015 to #663 in 2025 in the US
• Judah#178Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #178 vs #404 in 2025
• Asher#28Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #28 vs #150 in 2025
• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Chaya’s. Rank is US 2025.