Chaim
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Meaning
“'life', a traditional Jewish name”
Say it: KHY-im (the Ch is a guttural H, as in Hanukkah)
The story
Chaim is the Hebrew word for life worn as a name, and the word itself holds a lovely quirk: chayim is grammatically plural, as if one life were never quite enough to say it. It is the same word raised in the toast, l'chaim, "to life," so the name doubles as a blessing you can drink to. In use since medieval times, by Behind the Name's account, it has been carried with real distinction: Chaim Weizmann, the chemist the Knesset elected as Israel's first president, and Chaim Potok, the rabbi and novelist whose The Chosen sat on the bestseller list for the better part of a year. Spanish reference pages write the president's name Jaim, the same breath in another alphabet. Few names state their case so plainly. It means life, it toasts life, and its bearers, on the evidence, have used theirs well.
How popular is Chaim around the world?
In the United States, 2,485 babies were named Chaim between 2020 and 2025.
Chaim is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 8,800
In the United States, 2,485 babies were named Chaim between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Chaim peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Chaim has stayed between 354 and 3,209 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 19,000
In England and Wales, 31 boys named Chaim were born in 2025, the 976th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 33,000
In Canada, 11 boys named Chaim were born in 2024, ranked 1,817th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Argentina
last on record 2022
Chaim is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Austria
last on record 2023
Chaim is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 53 people in Brazil were named Chaim, ranked 64,043rd, with a median age of 56.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
last on record 1956
Chaim is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
South Australia
last on record 1996
Chaim is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Chaim
Most people given the name Chaim in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Chaim travels
Jewish American · A beloved traditional name still given in observant Jewish American families.
Keep exploring
The Chaim deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Chaim truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Chaim fits with your family’s names and surname.
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