# Chaim (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/chaim/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “life” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Haim, Hayim |
| US babies named this | 12,078 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 12,072 / 6 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 800, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Hebrew חַיִּים (“life”).

## What it means

Chaim is grouped under life.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 6 | 9,475 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 299 | 757 |
| 2012 | 339 | 701 |
| 2013 | 341 | 700 |
| 2014 | 291 | 790 |
| 2015 | 347 | 715 |
| 2016 | 326 | 749 |
| 2017 | 347 | 706 |
| 2018 | 314 | 751 |
| 2019 | 360 | 699 |
| 2020 | 386 | 673 |
| 2021 | 383 | 694 |
| 2022 | 462 | 607 |
| 2023 | 444 | 626 |
| 2024 | 399 | 682 |
| 2025 | 411 | 666 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 32 | 907 |
| 2012 | 28 | 998 |
| 2013 | 32 | 910 |
| 2014 | 28 | 1,012 |
| 2015 | 26 | 1,074 |
| 2016 | 25 | 1,123 |
| 2017 | 35 | 888 |
| 2018 | 39 | 810 |
| 2019 | 16 | 1,506 |
| 2020 | 39 | 796 |
| 2021 | 43 | 771 |
| 2022 | 42 | 771 |
| 2023 | 39 | 827 |
| 2024 | 31 | 981 |
| 2025 | 31 | 976 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: حَايِيم
- Hindi: ख़ाइम

## People named Chaim

- Chaim Herzog, 6th President of Israel (1983–1993) – (born1918–1997)
- Chaïm Soutine, Belarusian-French painter (1893–1943)
- Chaïm Perelman, Belgian philosopher of law (1912-1984)
- Chaim Potok, American rabbi and author (1929–2002)
- Chaim Laskov, 5th Chief of General Staff of Israel Defence Forces (1919–1982)
- Chaim Yisroel Eiss, activist (1876-1943)
- Chaim Gross, American artist (1904-1991)
- Chaim Kaplan, Belarusian-Polish educator and Holocaust victim
- Jacques Lipchitz, American and French sculptor (1891–1973)
- Jean Améry, Austrian-born essayist and Holocaust survivor (1912-1978)
- Joachim Oppenheim, Czech rabbi and author (1832 – 1891)
- Haïm Korsia, French rabbi

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.