Chenoa
Of Indigenous American origins, signifying a white dove.
Name Census estimates that about 1,651 living Americans carry the first name Chenoa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Chenoa today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chenoa births was 1976 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chenoa. 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 Chenoa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 207,604 Americans
Peak year
1976
59 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,291
Tracked since 1967
Census
Chenoa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,435 people with the first name Chenoa, which placed it at #9,609 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
#9,609
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,435 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chenoa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chenoa is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (15.7%) and Black (13.9%). 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 Chenoa 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 Chenoa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.4% · 609
- Two or more races15.7% · 225
- Black or African American13.9% · 199
- American Indian and Alaska Native13.7% · 197
- Hispanic or Latino12.7% · 182
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 23
Popularity
Chenoa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chenoa 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 408 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
Chenoa 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 Chenoa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chenoas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Chenoa, while New Jersey, Georgia, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chenoa
The name Chenoa is believed to have originated from the Native American Lenape language, spoken by the Lenape people who inhabited parts of what is now eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The name is thought to derive from the Lenape word "chen-o-ah," which means "messenger" or "herald."
In the 17th century, European colonists in the region encountered the Lenape people and likely adopted the name Chenoa from their language. It is possible that the name was initially given to a Lenape individual who served as a messenger or intermediary between their tribe and the colonists.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chenoa is found in colonial records from the late 17th century, where it is mentioned as the name of a Lenape woman who lived in the area around present-day Philadelphia. However, historical references to individuals with this name are relatively scarce before the modern era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chenoa. In the late 19th century, Chenoa Pickett (1848-1919) was a prominent activist and educator in the African American community, working to establish schools and promote literacy in the post-Civil War era.
Another notable figure was Chenoa Geerdes (1886-1965), a Dutch-American artist and illustrator who gained recognition for her paintings depicting scenes of everyday life in the Netherlands.
In the 20th century, Chenoa Maxwell (1908-1995) was a pioneering African American journalist and editor who worked for various publications, including the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier.
More recently, Chenoa Rivera (born 1979) is a Mexican American singer-songwriter and actress who has released several successful albums and appeared in various television shows and films.
Additionally, Chenoa Laudau (born 1982) is a Canadian actress known for her roles in television series such as "Lost Girl" and "Hemlock Grove."
While the name Chenoa has its roots in the Native American Lenape language, it has gained popularity and recognition across various cultures and ethnicities throughout history, with several notable individuals bearing this unique and meaningful name.
People
Chenoa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chenoa 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
Chenoa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chenoa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,651 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chenoa 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 207,604 US residents.
Is Chenoa a common name?
We classify Chenoa as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,728 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chenoa most popular?
The single biggest year for Chenoa was 1976, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chenoa is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chenoa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,435 people with the name Chenoa, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,609 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 Chenoa 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 Chenoa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chenoa leans strongly female. 1,424 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 18 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Chenoa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chenoa is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (15.7%) and Black (13.9%). 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 Chenoa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chenoa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.4% (609 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 Chenoa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chenoa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chenoa 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 Chenoa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chenoa 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 Chenoa 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 are named Chenoa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.