Cheyne
Cheyne was last recorded in 2017, when 6 babies were given it; 1,025 Americans have been recorded with it between 1971 and 2017 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Cheyne by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Cheyne mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Cheyne is “a male given name of rare usage.” Its etymology gives the sense “oak” (chesne).
Of Anglo-Norman origin, ultimately from Old French chesne (“oak”).
/ˈt͡ʃeɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Cheyne?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #11,020, in 2017; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
81 babies in 1980, the peak
Cheyne peaked in 1980, when 81 babies were given it (70 boys, #1,080 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | under 5 | 6 | #11,020 | |
| 2016 | under 5 | 5 | #12,536 | |
| 2013 | under 5 | 5 | #12,470 | |
| 2012 | under 5 | 6 | #11,032 | |
| 2011 | under 5 | 5 | #12,609 | |
| 2009 | under 5 | 8 | #9,125 | |
| 2007 | 5 | #18,206 | 14 | #5,959 |
| 2006 | under 5 | 8 | #8,860 | |
| 2005 | 7 | #13,304 | 9 | #7,735 |
| 2004 | 5 | #16,640 | 12 | #6,195 |
Every recorded year (38)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 15 | #7,287 | 16 | #4,848 |
| 2002 | under 5 | 21 | #3,928 | |
| 2001 | under 5 | 17 | #4,505 | |
| 2000 | 10 | #9,301 | 15 | #4,810 |
| 1999 | under 5 | 15 | #4,565 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 20 | #3,607 | |
| 1997 | 9 | #9,165 | 34 | #2,402 |
| 1996 | 8 | #9,752 | 15 | #4,204 |
| 1995 | 6 | #12,077 | 21 | #3,202 |
| 1994 | 5 | #13,851 | 36 | #2,223 |
| 1993 | 7 | #10,823 | 27 | #2,638 |
| 1992 | 5 | #13,694 | 34 | #2,216 |
| 1991 | 5 | #13,557 | 33 | #2,186 |
| 1990 | under 5 | 67 | #1,357 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 33 | #2,103 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 34 | #1,906 | |
| 1987 | 5 | #11,627 | 45 | #1,566 |
| 1986 | under 5 | 42 | #1,566 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 38 | #1,646 | |
| 1984 | under 5 | 40 | #1,533 | |
| 1983 | 5 | #10,560 | 46 | #1,380 |
| 1982 | 7 | #8,382 | 57 | #1,229 |
| 1981 | under 5 | 24 | #2,144 | |
| 1980 | 11 | #5,983 | 70 | #1,080 |
| 1979 | under 5 | 16 | #2,794 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 5 | #5,986 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 5 | #5,742 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 6 | #4,470 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Cheyne a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,025 Americans recorded as Cheyne, 11% are girls and 89% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Cheyne: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Cheyne, and how old are they?
An estimated 979 Americans named Cheyne and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 36 years old and half are between 29 and 42. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 947 people named Cheyne (179 women and girls, 768 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 992 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% below that prediction.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Cheyne born?
The states with the most babies named Cheyne are California, Florida and Hawaii, with 95% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Hawaii is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 260 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Florida | 39 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Hawaii | 36 | not ranked | 8.0× |
| Iowa | 6 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Pennsylvania | 6 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Minnesota | 5 | not ranked | 0.3× |
Where Cheyne is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Cheyne is most over-represented in California: since 1971 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Cheyne with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Cheyne
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Cheyne and names like it
- Compare Cheyne and MychalBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sCheyne peaked in 1980.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Cheyne since 1910.
- The top names of 1980The year the most babies were named Cheyne.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Cheyne alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with CMost given first.