Chip
A diminutive form of the masculine name Charles, derived from the Germanic word for man.
Name Census estimates that about 2,984 living Americans carry the first name Chip. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chip today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chip births was 1962 (171 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chip. 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
3.0K
~ 1 in 114,864 Americans
Peak year
1962
171 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,272
Tracked since 1942
Census
Chip in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,696 people with the first name Chip, which placed it at #6,063 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
#6,063
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,696 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chip
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chip is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Chip 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 Chip at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.1% · 2,348
- Black or African American3.9% · 104
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 76
- Two or more races2.7% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 17
Popularity
Chip: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chip from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,229 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chip 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 Chip during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chips live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Chip, while Nebraska, Mississippi, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chip
The name Chip is a diminutive form of the name Charles, which is derived from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "man" or "freeman." The name Karl was popularized by Charlemagne, the famous Frankish king and emperor who ruled in the late 8th and early 9th centuries.
The origin of the nickname Chip can be traced back to the Middle English period, when the name Charles was often shortened to forms like Charly or Charley. Over time, these nicknames further evolved into the diminutive form Chip, which became a common pet name or shortened form of Charles.
While the name Chip itself does not have any direct historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its origins can be linked to the widespread use and popularity of the name Charles throughout European history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Chip being used as a first name can be found in the 17th century. Chip Kendall, an English pirate active in the Caribbean during the late 1600s, was known by this name, though his full name remains uncertain.
Another notable figure with the first name Chip was Chip Hilton, the protagonist of a series of sports fiction books written by Clair Bee between 1948 and 1966. These books, aimed at young readers, featured the adventures of a high school athlete named Chip Hilton.
In the world of entertainment, Chip Douglas was the stage name of an American singer-songwriter and record producer who was born John Douglas Hendricks in 1925 and passed away in 2015. He was best known for his work with the pop group The Monkees.
Chip Esten, born in 1975, is an American actor and singer best known for his role as Deacon Claybourne in the television series Nashville.
Chip Kelly, born in 1963, is a former American football coach who gained acclaim for his innovative offensive strategies while coaching at the University of Oregon and in the National Football League.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the first name Chip, a diminutive form of Charles with roots dating back to the Middle English period and the Germanic name Karl.
People
Chip + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chip 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
Chip: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chip?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,984 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chip 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 114,864 US residents.
Is Chip a common name?
We classify Chip as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,469 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chip most popular?
The single biggest year for Chip was 1962, when 171 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chip is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chip in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,696 people with the name Chip, or 0.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,063 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 Chip 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 Chip?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chip leans strongly male. 2,653 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 41 female bearers (1.5%). 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 Chip?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chip is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Black (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Chip most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chip in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (2,348 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 Chip in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chip a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chip 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 Chip still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chip 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 Chip 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 named Chip?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.