Chante
A feminine name of French origin meaning "to sing".
Name Census estimates that about 3,762 living Americans carry the first name Chante. It is a predominantly female name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Chante today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chante births was 1993 (323 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chante. 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 Chante with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.8K
~ 1 in 91,110 Americans
Peak year
1993
323 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1980 SSA rank
#4,561
Tracked since 1961
Census
Chante in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,346 people with the first name Chante, which placed it at #5,200 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
#5,200
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chante
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chante is Black at 68.2%. The next largest groups are White (14.0%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Chante 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 Chante at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.2% · 2,282
- White14.0% · 467
- Two or more races8.3% · 277
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 225
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 41
Gender
Gender distribution for Chante
Out of the 3,989 babies given the name Chante since 1880, 99.2% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Chante as a male name
- Ranked #4,561 in 1980
- 8 male births in 1980
- Peak: 1979 (8 births)
Chante as a female name
- Ranked #13,952 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1993 (323 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chante leans strongly female. 3,239 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 101 male bearers (3.0%).
Popularity
Chante: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chante from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,393 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chante 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 Chante during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chantes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Chante, while Missouri, Colorado, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 80 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chante
The name Chante is of French origin, derived from the Old French word "chanter," which means "to sing." It is believed to have emerged as a given name during the Middle Ages, around the 12th to 14th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chante can be found in the works of French poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut, who lived from 1300 to 1377. He composed several chansons (songs) and lais (lyrical narratives) featuring characters with the name Chante or variations thereof.
In the 15th century, a French noblewoman named Chante de Bretagne (born around 1430) was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the House of Montfort during the War of the Breton Succession. She played a significant role in the cultural and political life of Brittany during her time.
Another notable figure with the name Chante was Chante Maillard (1512-1589), a French composer and lutenist who served at the court of King Henry II of France. His compositions were highly regarded during the Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, Chante de Lauzon (1636-1711) was a French-Canadian nobleman who served as the Governor of New France (present-day Quebec) from 1651 to 1657. He played a crucial role in the early development of the French colony in North America.
Fast-forwarding to the 20th century, Chante Moore (born 1966) is an American singer and actress known for her contributions to the R&B and soul music genres. Her album "Precious" (1992) was a commercial success, earning her several Grammy nominations.
While the name Chante has French roots, it has been adopted and used in various cultures around the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its association with singing and music has made it a popular choice for parents seeking a melodic and artistic name for their children.
People
Chante + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chante 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
Chante: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chante?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,762 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chante 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 91,110 US residents.
Is Chante a common name?
We classify Chante as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,989 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chante most popular?
The single biggest year for Chante was 1993, when 323 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chante is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chante in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,346 people with the name Chante, or 1.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,200 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 Chante 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 Chante?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chante leans strongly female. 3,239 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 101 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Chante?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chante is Black at 68.2%. The next largest groups are White (14.0%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Chante most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Chante in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (2,282 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 Chante in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chante a female name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Chante in the SSA data are female. 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 Chante still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chante 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 Chante 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 common is the name Chante?
See how many Americans are named Chante on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.