Chet
Chet was given to 65 boys in 2025, #2,186 among boys’ names; 6,180 Americans have been recorded with it since 1909 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,250 Americans named Chet and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (85% of everyone recorded); the median is 46 years old and half are between 29 and 59.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Chet by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Chet mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Chet is “a diminutive of the male given name Chester.”
/t͡ʃɛt/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Chet?
#2,186 among boys’ names, 2025
Chet rose from #3,034 in 2015 to #2,186 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 19.8 to 38.1 per million.
164 babies in 1963, the peak
Chet peaked in 1963, when 164 boys were given it, #612 among boys’ names. The 65 births of 2025 are 40% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 65 | #2,186 | 38.1 |
| 2024 | 71 | #2,101 | 41.2 |
| 2023 | 64 | #2,226 | 37.4 |
| 2022 | 66 | #2,193 | 37.8 |
| 2021 | 51 | #2,556 | 29.2 |
| 2020 | 46 | #2,697 | 26.7 |
| 2019 | 43 | #2,864 | 24.0 |
| 2018 | 50 | #2,553 | 27.5 |
| 2017 | 37 | #3,135 | 20.0 |
| 2016 | 45 | #2,691 | 23.7 |
Every recorded year (110)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 38 | #3,034 | 19.8 |
| 2014 | 46 | #2,628 | 23.9 |
| 2013 | 38 | #2,962 | 20.1 |
| 2012 | 30 | #3,545 | 15.8 |
| 2011 | 37 | #3,057 | 19.5 |
| 2010 | 42 | #2,829 | 21.9 |
| 2009 | 24 | #4,180 | 12.1 |
| 2008 | 36 | #3,167 | 17.6 |
| 2007 | 46 | #2,649 | 22.2 |
| 2006 | 33 | #3,231 | 16.1 |
| 2005 | 43 | #2,572 | 21.5 |
| 2004 | 51 | #2,243 | 25.7 |
| 2003 | 45 | #2,355 | 22.8 |
| 2002 | 41 | #2,429 | 21.1 |
| 2001 | 53 | #2,005 | 27.3 |
| 2000 | 51 | #1,991 | 26.0 |
| 1999 | 47 | #2,029 | 24.5 |
| 1998 | 49 | #1,959 | 25.6 |
| 1997 | 45 | #1,993 | 23.9 |
| 1996 | 66 | #1,517 | 34.8 |
| 1995 | 64 | #1,489 | 33.6 |
| 1994 | 60 | #1,542 | 31.1 |
| 1993 | 75 | #1,309 | 38.2 |
| 1992 | 56 | #1,571 | 28.0 |
| 1991 | 85 | #1,198 | 42.1 |
| 1990 | 78 | #1,248 | 38.0 |
| 1989 | 76 | #1,223 | 38.0 |
| 1988 | 83 | #1,090 | 43.4 |
| 1987 | 96 | #962 | 51.4 |
| 1986 | 84 | #1,009 | 45.6 |
| 1985 | 76 | #1,056 | 41.1 |
| 1984 | 88 | #939 | 48.8 |
| 1983 | 106 | #848 | 59.1 |
| 1982 | 102 | #885 | 56.2 |
| 1981 | 107 | #852 | 59.7 |
| 1980 | 106 | #862 | 59.4 |
| 1979 | 86 | #954 | 50.0 |
| 1978 | 130 | #742 | 79.2 |
| 1977 | 128 | #756 | 77.9 |
| 1976 | 140 | #703 | 89.2 |
| 1975 | 135 | #714 | 86.5 |
| 1974 | 117 | #750 | 74.4 |
| 1973 | 99 | #796 | 63.5 |
| 1972 | 102 | #792 | 62.9 |
| 1971 | 133 | #717 | 75.2 |
| 1970 | 158 | #651 | 85.0 |
| 1969 | 84 | #836 | 47.0 |
| 1968 | 90 | #780 | 51.8 |
| 1967 | 94 | #758 | 53.9 |
| 1966 | 113 | #696 | 63.4 |
| 1965 | 113 | #699 | 60.7 |
| 1964 | 144 | #647 | 72.3 |
| 1963 | 164 | #612 | 80.7 |
| 1962 | 154 | #625 | 74.4 |
| 1961 | 158 | #627 | 74.4 |
| 1960 | 118 | #717 | 55.3 |
| 1959 | 116 | #712 | 54.3 |
| 1958 | 116 | #695 | 54.7 |
| 1957 | 87 | #805 | 40.3 |
| 1956 | 80 | #835 | 37.8 |
| 1955 | 54 | #1,024 | 26.2 |
| 1954 | 37 | #1,227 | 18.1 |
| 1953 | 28 | #1,431 | 14.2 |
| 1952 | 19 | #1,756 | 9.8 |
| 1951 | 21 | #1,650 | 11.2 |
| 1950 | 21 | #1,621 | 11.7 |
| 1949 | 26 | #1,439 | 14.7 |
| 1948 | 21 | #1,615 | 12.0 |
| 1947 | 26 | #1,453 | 14.2 |
| 1946 | 34 | #1,197 | 20.9 |
| 1945 | 27 | #1,271 | 20.1 |
| 1944 | 19 | #1,583 | 13.9 |
| 1943 | 25 | #1,404 | 17.5 |
| 1942 | 14 | #1,961 | 10.1 |
| 1941 | 14 | #1,921 | 11.4 |
| 1940 | 10 | #2,349 | 8.6 |
| 1939 | 11 | #2,185 | 9.9 |
| 1938 | 9 | #2,510 | 8.1 |
| 1937 | 8 | #2,712 | 7.5 |
| 1936 | 7 | #2,907 | 6.7 |
| 1935 | 14 | #1,945 | 13.4 |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,343 | 10.5 |
| 1931 | 6 | #3,447 | 5.8 |
| 1930 | 8 | #3,062 | 7.3 |
| 1929 | 7 | #3,281 | 6.5 |
| 1928 | 9 | #2,882 | 8.1 |
| 1926 | 9 | #2,948 | 8.1 |
| 1925 | 7 | #3,463 | 6.3 |
| 1924 | 5 | #4,458 | 4.4 |
| 1923 | 6 | #3,886 | 5.5 |
| 1922 | 5 | #4,410 | 4.6 |
| 1920 | 7 | #3,540 | 6.6 |
| 1919 | 7 | #3,460 | 7.1 |
| 1918 | 7 | #3,423 | 6.9 |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,578 | 10.8 |
| 1915 | 8 | #2,862 | 9.4 |
| 1914 | 7 | #2,692 | 10.7 |
| 1912 | 5 | #2,613 | 11.6 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,632 | 25.7 |
| 1909 | 6 | #1,301 | 36.6 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Chet a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Chet has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 110 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Chet: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Chet, and how old are they?
5,250 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 85% of the 6,180 Americans ever recorded as Chet. The median Chet alive today is 46 years old; half are between 29 and 59.
The 2020 Census counted 5,555 people named Chet (35 women and girls, 5,520 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 5,117 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 52 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,030 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,620 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,230 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 661 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 655 |
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 Chet born?
The states with the most babies named Chet are California, Texas and Utah, with 39% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Utah is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 394 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Texas | 255 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Utah | 205 | not ranked | 3.3× |
| Ohio | 178 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| New York | 175 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Louisiana | 155 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Illinois | 146 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Michigan | 110 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 72 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Florida | 61 | not ranked | 0.3× |
Where Chet is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Chet is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 3.3 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 Chet with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 6,561 babies since 1880, Chet is the most given (94% of them). In 2025 it was given to 65 of their 78 babies (83%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Chet
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 Chet and names like it
- Compare Chet and ChettBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sChet peaked in 1963.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Chet since 1910.
- The top names of 1963The year the most babies were named Chet.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Chet alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with CMost given first.