Chester
Chester was given to 107 boys in 2025, #1,588 among boys’ names; 122,302 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 32,400 Americans named Chester and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (27% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 52 and 77.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Chester by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Chester mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Chester is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the sense “a town or city, especially a Roman one” (ċeaster).
From Middle English Chestre, from Old English Ċeaster, from ċeaster (“a town or city, especially a Roman one”). The village in Nova Scotia is likely named after the city in Pennsylvania.
/ˈt͡ʃɛ.stɚ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Chester?
#1,588 among boys’ names, 2025
Chester rose from #1,625 in 2015 to #1,588 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 51.1 to 62.6 per million.
3,726 babies in 1920, the peak
Chester peaked in 1920, when 3,726 babies were given it (3,698 boys, #55 among boys’ names). The 107 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 107 | #1,588 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 102 | #1,652 | 0.06 |
| 2023 | 96 | #1,730 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 94 | #1,761 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 68 | #2,112 | 0.04 |
| 2020 | 99 | #1,622 | 0.06 |
| 2019 | 91 | #1,725 | 0.05 |
| 2018 | 93 | #1,689 | 0.05 |
| 2017 | 93 | #1,698 | 0.05 |
| 2016 | 76 | #1,926 | 0.04 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 98 | #1,625 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 84 | #1,783 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 78 | #1,831 | 0.04 |
| 2012 | 71 | #1,985 | 0.04 |
| 2011 | 82 | #1,771 | 0.04 |
| 2010 | 74 | #1,912 | 0.04 |
| 2009 | 73 | #1,942 | 0.04 |
| 2008 | 92 | #1,665 | 0.05 |
| 2007 | 81 | #1,796 | 0.04 |
| 2006 | 71 | #1,894 | 0.03 |
| 2005 | 95 | #1,506 | 0.05 |
| 2004 | 90 | #1,490 | 0.05 |
| 2003 | 95 | #1,398 | 0.05 |
| 2002 | 97 | #1,356 | 0.05 |
| 2001 | 81 | #1,499 | 0.04 |
| 2000 | 109 | #1,226 | 0.06 |
| 1999 | 100 | #1,241 | 0.05 |
| 1998 | 117 | #1,093 | 0.06 |
| 1997 | 122 | #1,043 | 0.06 |
| 1996 | 124 | #1,004 | 0.07 |
| 1995 | 145 | #915 | 0.08 |
| 1994 | 149 | #884 | 0.08 |
| 1993 | 154 | #852 | 0.08 |
| 1992 | 203 | #723 | 0.10 |
| 1991 | 209 | #696 | 0.10 |
| 1990 | 226 | #672 | 0.11 |
| 1989 | 228 | #661 | 0.11 |
| 1988 | 227 | #631 | 0.12 |
| 1987 | 251 | #572 | 0.13 |
| 1986 | 220 | #600 | 0.12 |
| 1985 | 264 | #536 | 0.14 |
| 1984 | 285 | #503 | 0.16 |
| 1983 | 292 | #494 | 0.16 |
| 1982 | 332 | #464 | 0.18 |
| 1981 | 349 | #441 | 0.19 |
| 1980 | 348 | #446 | 0.20 |
| 1979 | 355 | #423 | 0.21 |
| 1978 | 377 | #398 | 0.23 |
| 1977 | 392 | #396 | 0.24 |
| 1976 | 370 | #404 | 0.24 |
| 1975 | 355 | #407 | 0.23 |
| 1974 | 428 | #367 | 0.27 |
| 1973 | 422 | #373 | 0.27 |
| 1972 | 411 | #389 | 0.25 |
| 1971 | 507 | #357 | 0.29 |
| 1970 | 515 | #359 | 0.28 |
| 1969 | 544 | #332 | 0.30 |
| 1968 | 500 | #345 | 0.29 |
| 1967 | 534 | #325 | 0.31 |
| 1966 | 536 | #323 | 0.30 |
| 1965 | 629 | #299 | 0.34 |
| 1964 | 710 | #295 | 0.36 |
| 1963 | 732 | #286 | 0.36 |
| 1962 | 775 | #277 | 0.37 |
| 1961 | 888 | #265 | 0.42 |
| 1960 | 936 | #260 | 0.44 |
| 1959 | 1,001 | #253 | 0.47 |
| 1958 | 1,051 | #240 | 0.50 |
| 1957 | 1,182 | #219 | 0.55 |
| 1956 | 1,254 | #207 | 0.59 |
| 1955 | 1,256 | #203 | 0.61 |
| 1954 | 1,421 | #185 | 0.70 |
| 1953 | 1,380 | #183 | 0.70 |
| 1952 | 1,456 | #180 | 0.75 |
| 1951 | 1,401 | #178 | 0.74 |
| 1950 | 1,378 | #169 | 0.77 |
| 1949 | 1,440 | #163 | 0.81 |
| 1948 | 1,556 | #158 | 0.89 |
| 1947 | 1,714 | #154 | 0.94 |
| 1946 | 1,620 | #149 | 1.0 |
| 1945 | 1,445 | #144 | 1.1 |
| 1944 | 1,521 | #137 | 1.1 |
| 1943 | 1,631 | #137 | 1.1 |
| 1942 | 1,559 | #137 | 1.1 |
| 1941 | 1,448 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1940 | 1,353 | #137 | 1.2 |
| 1939 | 1,296 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1938 | 1,236 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1937 | 1,272 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1936 | 1,278 | #127 | 1.2 |
| 1935 | 1,432 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1934 | 1,385 | #123 | 1.3 |
| 1933 | 1,399 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1932 | 1,607 | #112 | 1.5 |
| 1931 | 1,717 | #106 | 1.7 |
| 1930 | 1,791 | #103 | 1.6 |
| 1929 | 1,969 | #96 | 1.8 |
| 1928 | 2,243 | #88 | 2.0 |
| 1927 | 2,407 | #85 | 2.1 |
| 1926 | 2,534 | #79 | 2.3 |
| 1925 | 2,719 | #73 | 2.4 |
| 1924 | 3,033 | #67 | 2.7 |
| 1923 | 3,150 | #63 | 2.9 |
| 1922 | 3,133 | #64 | 2.9 |
| 1921 | 3,549 | #56 | 3.2 |
| 1920 | 3,698 | #55 | 3.5 |
| 1919 | 3,432 | #53 | 3.5 |
| 1918 | 3,692 | #54 | 3.6 |
| 1917 | 3,338 | #56 | 3.6 |
| 1916 | 3,212 | #54 | 3.6 |
| 1915 | 3,043 | #54 | 3.6 |
| 1914 | 2,289 | #56 | 3.5 |
| 1913 | 1,765 | #56 | 3.4 |
| 1912 | 1,460 | #55 | 3.4 |
| 1911 | 708 | #58 | 3.1 |
| 1910 | 561 | #61 | 2.9 |
| 1909 | 475 | #66 | 2.9 |
| 1908 | 461 | #66 | 3.0 |
| 1907 | 424 | #67 | 2.9 |
| 1906 | 420 | #61 | 3.2 |
| 1905 | 388 | #64 | 2.9 |
| 1904 | 355 | #69 | 2.8 |
| 1903 | 327 | #68 | 2.7 |
| 1902 | 321 | #74 | 2.6 |
| 1901 | 253 | #75 | 2.4 |
| 1900 | 364 | #72 | 2.4 |
| 1899 | 288 | #66 | 2.7 |
| 1898 | 321 | #66 | 2.6 |
| 1897 | 290 | #67 | 2.6 |
| 1896 | 329 | #63 | 2.8 |
| 1895 | 377 | #57 | 3.2 |
| 1894 | 325 | #63 | 2.8 |
| 1893 | 291 | #66 | 2.6 |
| 1892 | 285 | #72 | 2.3 |
| 1891 | 252 | #68 | 2.5 |
| 1890 | 263 | #69 | 2.4 |
| 1889 | 274 | #69 | 2.5 |
| 1888 | 288 | #72 | 2.4 |
| 1887 | 207 | #78 | 2.0 |
| 1886 | 287 | #65 | 2.6 |
| 1885 | 273 | #67 | 2.5 |
| 1884 | 338 | #58 | 3.0 |
| 1883 | 290 | #59 | 2.8 |
| 1882 | 300 | #60 | 2.6 |
| 1881 | 274 | #59 | 2.7 |
| 1880 | 168 | #85 | 1.5 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Chester a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Chester has been given almost only to boys: 828 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Chester: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Chester, and how old are they?
32,400 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 27% of the 122,302 Americans ever recorded as Chester. The median Chester alive today is 67 years old; half are between 52 and 77.
The 2020 Census counted 35,868 people named Chester (131 women and girls, 35,737 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 39,262 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 5,110 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 14,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 6,360 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,470 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,430 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,170 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Chester born?
The states with the most babies named Chester are Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 9,214 | #864 | 1.1× |
| New York | 7,573 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 7,392 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Ohio | 6,148 | #1,035 | 1.1× |
| Texas | 5,472 | #1,780 | 0.8× |
| Kentucky | 5,183 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Michigan | 5,091 | #1,139 | 1.1× |
| Massachusetts | 4,159 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| California | 3,765 | #1,371 | 0.6× |
| Indiana | 3,467 | not ranked | 1.2× |
Where Chester is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Chester is most over-represented in Kentucky: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Chester with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Chester
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Chester and names like it
- Compare Chester and BertramBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sChester peaked in 1920.
- Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Chester since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Chester: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Chester.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Chester alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with CMost given first.