Shem Tov Girl's nameOrigin: HebrewIn Israel: steady
ChayaIn Hebrew: חיה · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: חַיָּהRomanization: ḥáya
Chaya (Hebrew: חיה) is a girl's name of Hebrew origin. 29,940 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 755 girls and ranked #14. Its peak year was 2021, with 806 babies.
- People in Israel
- 29,940
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 755
- rank #14
- Peak year
- 2021
- 806 babies
- USA, 2025
- 499
- rank #587
Writing and saying Chaya
In Hebrew letters the name is חיה, read right to left. Chaya is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms. Wiktionary romanizes it as "ḥáya" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).
Meaning and origin
- a female given name, Chaya
From Proto-Semitic *ḥay(aw)- (“animal”). Cognate with Arabic حَيَوَان (ḥayawān), Classical Syriac ܚܝܘܬܐ (ḥaywəṯā) and Ugaritic 𐎈𐎆𐎉 (ḥwt).
Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.
Chaya by year: Israel and abroad
How many girls out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Chaya in English-speaking countries
| Country / region | Year | Babies | Rank | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | 499 | #587 | 2024 (504) |
| United Kingdom | 2025 | 52 | #765 | 2023 (55) |
| England and Wales | 2025 | 52 | #705 | 2023 (55) |
| Quebec | 2025 | 5 | #773 | 2006 (13) |
Counts for girls. The Hebrew page for Chaya has every year and the other spellings.
Related Israeli names
Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.
Questions about Chaya
How do you write Chaya in Hebrew?
Chaya is written חיה in Hebrew (with vowel points: חַיָּה). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "ḥáya".
How many people in Israel are named Chaya?
29,940 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name חיה: 29,934 women and 6 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Chaya a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a girl's name: 100.0% of the people named חיה are women.
What does the name Chaya mean?
English Wiktionary describes it as: "a female given name, Chaya" Etymology: From Proto-Semitic *ḥay(aw)- (“animal”). Cognate with Arabic حَيَوَان (ḥayawān), Classical Syriac ܚܝܘܬܐ (ḥaywəṯā) and Ugaritic 𐎈𐎆𐎉 (ḥwt).
Is Chaya used outside Israel?
The name Chaya appears in the official baby name lists of English-speaking countries. In the United States 499 girls were given it in 2025 (#587), per the Social Security Administration. In the UK 52 in 2025 (ONS, NRS and NISRA combined).
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.
Abroad
- United States: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications - National Data
Years 1880–2025 · updated 2026-04-13 · licence: Public domain (U.S. Government work) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published - England and Wales: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996
Years 1996–2025 · updated 2026-07 · licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · names given to fewer than 3 babies a year are not published - Alberta: Alberta Vital Statistics
Frequency and ranking of baby names by year and gender
Years 1980–2025 · updated 2026-08-11 · licence: Open Government Licence - Alberta - Quebec: Retraite Québec
Banque de prénoms (filles, garçons)
Years 1980–2025 · updated 2026-06-18 · licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published
Counts are copied as published. We only merged accented spellings (Zoë = Zoe) and computed ranks and rates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia and the Open Government Licence – Alberta.