Chaya

KHA-ya; CHIE-uh
Feminization of Chayyim or Chaim, Hebrew, Hindi, "life; shadow, shade"
"life; shadow, shade"

Chaya Origin and Meaning

The name Chaya is a girl's name of Hebrew, Yiddish origin meaning "life; shadow, shade".

A life-affirming name of Hebrew origin, currently popular in Israel, Chaya has also risen up the charts in both the US and the UK in recent years. Used as a common name for leafy shrub in Mexico, it shares the same root as Chava, Eve, and Eva.

In the Chabad Lubavitch branch of Orthodox Judaism, Chaya Mushka is a particularly popular combination. It honors Chaya Moussia Schneerson “Chaya Mushka”, the wife of the last Lubavitch leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In some Orthodox communities, there are so many girls and women named Chaya Mushka, they have to go by nicknames including Mushky (and Mushkie and Mushkee), Mookie, and Chayale.

Other forms of the name include Chaja, Haya, Khaya and Haia, while a popular diminutive is Chayka.

Chaya is also an unrelated Hindi name, derived from Sanskrit meaning "shadow, shade". Also appearing as Cahaya in Indonesian and Malay and as Chhaya in Hindi, Chaya is the personification of the Hindu goddess of shadow. It is a popular choice in India and Nepal.

# 607 in the US

Chaya Rank in US Top 1000

Chaya Popularity

Famous People Named Chaya

  • Chaya "Helena" Rubinstein
    Polish,American cosmetics magnate
  • Chaya Pinkhasovna "Clarice" Lispector
    Brazilian novelist
  • Chaya Czernowin
    Israeli composer
  • Mayim Chaya Bialik
    American actress and neuroscientist

Chaya in Pop Culture

  • Chaya Silberschmidt
    character in movie "Left Luggage"
  • Chaya Abramowicz/Hannah Stern
    character in the novel "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen