Chancey
A variant spelling of the name Chancy, meaning "having good luck or fortune".
Name Census estimates that about 1,388 living Americans carry the first name Chancey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Chancey today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chancey births was 1978 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chancey. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 246,941 Americans
Peak year
1978
69 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,836
Tracked since 1883
Census
Chancey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,179 people with the first name Chancey, which placed it at #11,034 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,034
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,179 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chancey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chancey is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.4%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Chancey described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Chancey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.6% · 809
- Black or African American21.4% · 252
- Two or more races3.6% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Chancey
Chancey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,726 total registrations, 1,221 (70.7%) were male and 505 (29.3%) were female.
Chancey as a male name
- Ranked #7,836 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1978 (53 births)
Chancey as a female name
- Ranked #11,284 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (25 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chancey on both sides of the split. Of the 1,178 people counted with this name, 729 were male (61.9%) and 449 were female (38.1%).
Popularity
Chancey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chancey from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 418 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chancey by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Chancey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chanceys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Michigan, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Chancey, while Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chancey
The name Chancey finds its origins in the Old French word "chance," which means "luck" or "fortune." This name emerged during the Middle Ages in regions where French was spoken, such as parts of modern-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chancey can be traced back to a 13th-century French manuscript, where it was used to refer to a person's fortunate circumstances. The name was likely bestowed upon individuals who were born into prosperous families or were believed to have been blessed with good luck.
In the 15th century, a notable figure named Chancey de Montfort was a prominent merchant in the city of Lyon, France. His success in trade and business ventures contributed to the association of the name with prosperity and good fortune.
During the Renaissance period, the name Chancey gained popularity among the nobility and upper classes, who often named their children with names that symbolized their aspirations for wealth and success. One such example is Chancey de Valois, a French noblewoman born in 1512, who was known for her lavish lifestyle and patronage of the arts.
In the 17th century, a famous English playwright named Chancey Marlowe (1564-1593) gained recognition for his works, including the renowned play "Doctor Faustus." His literary contributions helped to further spread the use of the name across Europe.
Another historical figure bearing the name Chancey was Chancey de Montaigne (1533-1592), a French Renaissance philosopher and writer, best known for his influential essay collection "Essais." His writings explored themes of luck, fortune, and the human condition, further solidifying the name's association with philosophical and intellectual pursuits.
As the name Chancey traversed various cultures and time periods, it maintained its connotations of good luck, prosperity, and success. While its usage may have waxed and waned over the centuries, the name continues to carry a rich history and symbolism that reflects the aspirations of those who bestowed it upon their children.
People
Chancey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chancey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Chancey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chancey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,388 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chancey going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 246,941 US residents.
Is Chancey a common name?
We classify Chancey as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,726 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chancey most popular?
The single biggest year for Chancey was 1978, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chancey is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chancey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,179 people with the name Chancey, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,034 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Chancey in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Chancey?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chancey on both sides of the split. Of the 1,178 people counted with this name, 729 were male (61.9%) and 449 were female (38.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Chancey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chancey is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.4%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Chancey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chancey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.6% (809 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Chancey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chancey a male name?
Yes, 70.7% of people registered as Chancey in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Chancey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chancey in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Chancey can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Chancey?
Find out how many people have the name Chancey on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.