Channing
Channing is an Old English surname meaning "someone from Channan, England".
Name Census estimates that about 10,546 living Americans carry the first name Channing. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 64.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Channing today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Channing births was 2012 (683 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Channing. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Channing with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Channing sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 32,501 Americans
Peak year
2012
683 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,696
Tracked since 1912
Census
Channing in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,623 people with the first name Channing, which placed it at #2,719 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,719
National first-name rank
People counted
8.6K
8,623 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Channing
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Channing is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Black (21.7%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Channing described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Channing at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.2% · 5,363
- Black or African American21.7% · 1,869
- Two or more races7.2% · 619
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 420
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 213
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 139
Gender
Gender distribution for Channing
Channing is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 11,096 total registrations, 7,205 (64.9%) were male and 3,891 (35.1%) were female.
Channing as a male name
- Ranked #1,696 in 2024
- 98 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (512 births)
Channing as a female name
- Ranked #2,849 in 2024
- 58 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1987 (330 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Channing on both sides of the split. Of the 8,623 people counted with this name, 5,435 were male (63.0%) and 3,188 were female (37.0%).
Popularity
Channing: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Channing from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,492 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Channing by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Channing during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Channings live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Channing, while South Dakota, North Dakota, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 152 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Channing
The name Channing originated from an English surname derived from the Old English word "cening," meaning "bold" or "brave." It was initially used as a surname before becoming a popular given name. The name gained prominence in the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly among Puritan families in England and later in the American colonies.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Channing can be found in the writings of John Foxe, an English historian and martyrologist, who mentioned a certain "Channing" in his book "Acts and Monuments" (also known as the "Book of Martyrs") published in 1563. This suggests that the name was already in use during the 16th century.
In the 17th century, the name Channing was associated with William Ellery Channing, an American Unitarian minister and theologian born in 1780. He was a prominent figure in the Unitarian movement and a leading thinker of the time, known for his advocacy of religious tolerance and social reform.
Another notable bearer of the name was Channing Moore Bishop, an American politician and lawyer born in 1822. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut and played a significant role in the Civil War era.
Moving forward to the 20th century, Channing Tatum, an American actor and dancer, brought renewed attention to the name. Born in 1980, he gained widespread recognition for his roles in various popular films, including "Step Up," "Magic Mike," and "Logan Lucky."
Additionally, Channing Pollock, an American playwright and author born in 1880, is remembered for his works such as "The Fool" and "The Enemy." His plays often explored societal issues and themes of morality.
Furthermore, Channing Harris Cox, an American journalist and author born in 1899, made significant contributions to the field of journalism, particularly through his work as an editor for several publications, including the Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
While the name Channing has its roots in the English language, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions, with individuals from diverse backgrounds embracing this name and its connotations of boldness and bravery.
People
Channing + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Channing as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Channing: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Channing?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,546 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Channing going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 32,501 US residents.
Is Channing a common name?
We classify Channing as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,096 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Channing most popular?
The single biggest year for Channing was 2012, when 683 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Channing is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Channing in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,623 people with the name Channing, or 2.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,719 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Channing in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Channing?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Channing on both sides of the split. Of the 8,623 people counted with this name, 5,435 were male (63.0%) and 3,188 were female (37.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Channing?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Channing is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Black (21.7%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Channing most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Channing in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.2% (5,363 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Channing in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Channing a male name?
Yes, 64.9% of people registered as Channing in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Channing still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Channing in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Channing can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Channing?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.