Chance
Chance was the 442nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 711 babies. Its best year was 1996, when it ranked 154th with 2,243 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 192 places. More babies were named Chance in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Meaning chance; pet form of Chauncey · English, French
Say it CHANS /tʃæns/
- Rank in 2025
- #442 boys, down 163 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 711boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19962,243 babies
- Total since 1880
- 56,010babies recorded
What does the name Chance mean?
Chance is used as a boy's name in the US. Wiktionary explains it as an American pet form of Chauncey, a surname of Norman origin from places in France called Chancé, and notes it is now also associated with the ordinary word chance, "luck, opportunity". That word comes through Old French cheance from Latin cadere, "to fall", as in the way dice fall.
Chauncey (Norman French, “surname from Chancé, France”)cheance (Old French, “chance, the way things fall”)
How sure is this? Probable. Two sources (Chauncey and the English word) overlap.
Related names: Chauncey.
See also: English names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Chance', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Chauncey', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (cmudict), Carnegie Mellon University
- Dictionary.com Unabridged (based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary), with Collins English Dictionary, s.v. 'chance', Dictionary.com / Random House / HarperCollins
Chance popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 1,388 since 1967, 22 in 2025.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #442 | 711 |
| 2020 | #279 | 1,202 |
| 2010 | #244 | 1,440 |
| 2000 | #212 | 1,694 |
| 1990 | #316 | 794 |
| 1980 | #605 | 207 |
| 1970 | #729 | 127 |
| 1960 | #3,722 | 6 |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Chance, counting every spelling?
Chance is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #438 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #442 for Chance on its own. Together these spellings went to 726 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chance | 711 | #442 | 4,346 |
| Chanse | 7 | #9,887 | 50 |
| Chanze | 8 | #9,065 | 49 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Chance?
711 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Chance (0.20 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Chance born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 12 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Chance.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Chance?
About 53,200 people born in the US named Chance are alive today, with a median age of 22; half are between 12 and 30. That makes Chance mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Chance by state
How common Chance was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Mississippi (3.8×), Louisiana (2.7×), South Carolina (2.5×), Georgia (2.4×), Alabama (2.0×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Chance: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Chance, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Chance · Sibling names for Chance
Questions about the name Chance
What does Chance mean?
Chance means “chance; pet form of Chauncey” (English, French origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Chance?
Chance was the 442nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 711 babies. Its best year was 1996, when it ranked 154th with 2,243 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 192 places. More babies were named Chance in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Is Chance a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Chance in the US.
Where is Chance most popular?
In 2021–2025, Chance was most common in Mississippi (1.92 per 1,000 boys), followed by Louisiana and South Carolina.