How Many People Are Named Chau?
An estimated 475 people in the United States have the first name Chau. It is used for both genders, with 78.4% female. The average bearer is 35 years old, and Chau peaked in popularity in 1982 with 35 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Chau as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Chau paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
475
About 1 in 721,588 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
78.4% confidence
Average Age
35
years old
Peak Year
1982
35 births
Total Registered
496
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Chau
Chau is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (21.6%) and females (78.4%). Out of 496 total births registered, 107 were male and 389 were female.
Chau as a male name
Ranked #7,568 in 1992
6 male births in 1992
Peak: 1982 (16 births)
Chau as a female name
Ranked #12,511 in 2022
7 female births in 2022
Peak: 1980 (22 births)
Chau: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Chau span from the 1970s to the 2020s, covering 6 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 233 babies were registered. Chau has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Chau by Decade
How has Chau tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Chau by State
Chau + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Chau as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Chau
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Chau: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chau?
We estimate approximately 475 people named Chau are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 721,588 Americans share this first name.
Is Chau a common name?
Chau is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 84.1% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 496 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Chau most popular?
Chau reached peak popularity in 1982, when 35 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Chau is approximately 35 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Chau a female name?
Chau is predominantly female. 78.4% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Chau Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Chau Smith, Chau Johnson, Chau Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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