Chelsea
Chelsea was the 851st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 319 babies. Its best year was 1992, when it ranked 15th with 16,177 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 542 places. More babies were named Chelsea in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning chalk landing place (London place name) · Old English
Say it CHEL-see /ˈtʃɛlsi/
- Rank in 2025
- #851 girls, down 207 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 319girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 199216,177 babies
- Total since 1880
- 163,335babies recorded
What does the name Chelsea mean?
Chelsea is a district of west London on the Thames. Wiktionary traces it to Old English Cealchȳth, from cealc, chalk, and hȳth, landing place, so "chalk wharf," perhaps where chalk or lime was unloaded. Several American places, including Chelsea, Massachusetts, took the name. As a girls' name it has been used in the US since 1910 and was most popular around 1990.
cealc (Old English, “chalk”)hȳþ (Old English, “landing place”)
How sure is this? Probable. Wiktionary only; the 'unloading chalk' explanation is an inference.
Related names: Chelsey, Chelsie, Kelsey.
See also: English names, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Chelsea' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Chelsea
The usual nicknames for Chelsea are Chels.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chels | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Chelseas go by each one.
Chelsea popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 451 since 1914.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #851 | 319 |
| 2020 | #644 | 449 |
| 2010 | #223 | 1,417 |
| 2000 | #140 | 2,380 |
| 1990 | #24 | 12,785 |
| 1980 | #412 | 540 |
| 1970 | #692 | 226 |
| 1960 | #4,497 | 9 |
| 1950 | #4,821 | 6 |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | #4,664 | 5 |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | #2,472 | 5 |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Chelsea, counting every spelling?
Chelsea is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #739 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #851 for Chelsea on its own. Together these spellings went to 377 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 319 | #851 | 1,964 |
| Chelsey | 18 | #6,370 | 160 |
| Chelsie | 18 | #6,371 | 95 |
| Chelsy | 15 | #7,211 | 78 |
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 Chelsea?
319 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Chelsea (0.09 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Chelsea 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 26 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Chelsea.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Chelsea?
About 159,300 people born in the US named Chelsea are alive today, with a median age of 34; half are between 29 and 37. That makes Chelsea mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
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.
Chelsea by state
How common Chelsea was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New Jersey (2.3×), New York (2.3×), Maryland (1.9×), California (1.5×). In 18 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Chelsea: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Chelsea, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Chelsea · Sibling names for Chelsea
Questions about the name Chelsea
What does Chelsea mean?
Chelsea means “chalk landing place (London place name)” (Old English origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Chelsea?
Chelsea was the 851st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 319 babies. Its best year was 1992, when it ranked 15th with 16,177 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 542 places. More babies were named Chelsea in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Chelsea a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Chelsea in the US.
Where is Chelsea most popular?
In 2021–2025, Chelsea was most common in New Jersey (0.55 per 1,000 girls), followed by New York and Maryland.