Chesney
A diminutive English form of the surname "Chesney", originating from a French place name.
Name Census estimates that about 2,711 living Americans carry the first name Chesney. It is a predominantly female name (94.3% of registrations). The average person named Chesney today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chesney births was 2005 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chesney. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Chesney with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 126,431 Americans
Peak year
2005
141 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,970
Tracked since 1970
Census
Chesney in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,272 people with the first name Chesney, which placed it at #6,895 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
#6,895
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,272 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chesney
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chesney is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Chesney 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 Chesney at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.6% · 1,923
- Black or African American6.1% · 138
- Two or more races4.0% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 78
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Chesney
Chesney leans heavily female at 94.3% of total registrations, but 157 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Chesney as a male name
- Ranked #7,309 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (15 births)
Chesney as a female name
- Ranked #2,970 in 2024
- 55 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (131 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chesney leans strongly female. 2,076 people counted with this name were female (91.7%), compared with 188 male bearers (8.3%).
Popularity
Chesney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chesney from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 993 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Chesney remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chesney 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 Chesney during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chesneys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Chesney, while South Carolina, Iowa, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chesney
The given name Chesney has its origins in the Old French language, emerging during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the word "cheisne," which means "oak tree" or "oak wood." This name was likely given to individuals who lived near or worked with oak trees, or perhaps even born under an oak tree.
During the medieval period, the name Chesney was commonly found in regions of France, particularly in the northern and central areas. As the name spread across Europe, it evolved into various spellings such as Chesneye, Chesnaye, and Chesnay.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chesney can be traced back to the 12th century. In the Cartulary of Savigny, a medieval manuscript from France, a person named Chesney de Bray is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction in the year 1162.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Chesney. One of the earliest was Sir John Chesney, an English military engineer and explorer who lived from 1793 to 1885. He was known for his surveys and explorations in the Middle East, including the regions of modern-day Syria and Iraq.
Another prominent figure was Charles Cornwallis Chesney, an English writer and explorer who lived from 1826 to 1876. He is best known for his expedition to explore the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, as well as his literary works documenting his travels in the Middle East.
In the realm of literature, Francis Rawdon Chesney, an Irish writer and poet, made his mark during the late 18th and early 19th centuries (1789-1872). He is remembered for his poetic works, including "The Maid of Portugal" and "The Battle of Waterloo."
In the field of science, George Chesney, a British astronomer and mathematician, lived from 1826 to 1892. He made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the motion of planets.
Lastly, Charles Chesney, an English actor and playwright from the 19th century (1826-1876), is notable for his theatrical works and performances on the London stage during the Victorian era.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the given name Chesney, a name with roots in the Old French language and a connection to the symbolism of the oak tree.
People
Chesney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chesney 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
Chesney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chesney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,711 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chesney 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 126,431 US residents.
Is Chesney a common name?
We classify Chesney as "Rare". It ranks above 94.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,759 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chesney most popular?
The single biggest year for Chesney was 2005, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chesney is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chesney in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,272 people with the name Chesney, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,895 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 Chesney 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 Chesney?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chesney leans strongly female. 2,076 people counted with this name were female (91.7%), compared with 188 male bearers (8.3%). 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 Chesney?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chesney is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Chesney most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chesney in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (1,923 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 Chesney in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chesney a female name?
Yes, 94.3% of people registered as Chesney in the SSA data are female. 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 Chesney still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chesney 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 Chesney 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 share the name Chesney?
You can see how many people have the name Chesney on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.