Chantal

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Chantal is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name264K records spelled Chantal15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, United States, Germany, Canada

  Languages: English, Western Frisian, Dutch

  Also written Chanta'L, Chântal, Chäntal, Chantál, Chantäl

• Polish given name4.0K records spelled Chantal20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, Czechia, Netherlands

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Russian

  Also written Шанталь, Shantal, Чантал

• Swahili given name3.4K records spelled Chantal4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in South Africa, United States, Canada, Congo - Kinshasa

  Languages: Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Southern Sotho

  Also written Chantál

64 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Chantal is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, French name inspired by the surname of Saint Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal; Latin origin.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, de (Le) Chantal, nom de plusieurs localités du sud de la France.

  as a name·Dictionnaire des noms de famille du Canada français. Anthroponymie et généalogie. 2e édition

• In French, Probablement lié à « chant »; interprété ici comme la recherche du chant de Dieu.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Du lieu-dit bourguignon Chantal; rattaché à une racine chaldéenne liée au roseau. Évoque aussi souffrance, manque et changement.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Du toponyme Chantal; popularisé par saint Jean-François de Sales.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 78 years between 1947–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Chantal Goyab. 1942FRFrench actress and singer
• Chantal Mouffeb. 1943BEBelgian post-marxist political theorist (born 1943)
• Chantal Thomasb. 1945FRFrench writer
• Chantal Laubyb. 1948FRFrench actress, comedian, film director and screenwriter
• Chantal Akermanb. 1950BEBelgian film director, screenwriter, and educator (1950–2015)
• Frédérique Vidalb. 1964FRnot in their usual nameFrench biochemist and politician
• Vanessa Paradisb. 1972FRnot in their usual nameFrench singer, model and actress
• Chantal Kreviazukb. 1973CACanadian pop singer
• Chantal Janzenb. 1979NLDutch actress and television presenter
• Chantal Strandb. 1987CACanadian actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 809 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Chantal?

We estimate roughly 12 thousand people bear Chantal (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Chantal have the most bearers?

Chantal is most frequently recorded in France, where it is most often spelled chantal.

How common is Chantal compared with other names?

In France, Chantal is the 82nd most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Chantal a male or female name?

Chantal is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Chantal mean?

Recorded meaning: From the French place name Chantal, probably from a Celtic root meaning 'stone' or 'rock'.