Chance
Torn between Chance and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
from the word "chance"
The story
Chance is the wager as a name, and its record holds one of the strangest crests in our records: not a spike but a plateau, about 13,600 in the 1990s, 14,700 in the 2000s, and 14,600 in the 2010s, three decades within a band of eleven hundred, a name that found its level and simply held it while fashions churned around it. The settle is now on: 5,700 so far this decade. The build was classic word-name: about 540 in the 1960s, 1,900, 4,900, then the plateau. In our records it goes to boys about 54,600 to 1,400. A Chicago rapper wore it through the plateau's last decade and the level never moved, which rather proves the point: some names are bets that keep paying at the same steady odds, and the record shows three decades of families taking them.
How popular is Chance around the world?
In the United States, 5,703 babies were named Chance between 2020 and 2025.
Chance is on the official records of the United States, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 3,800
In the United States, 5,703 babies were named Chance between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Chance peaked in the 2010s. Chance went to 1,496 US babies in 2015 and 733 in 2025, 49% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 12,000
In Canada, 30 boys named Chance were born in 2024, the 857th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 42,000
In England and Wales, 14 boys named Chance were born in 2025, ranked 1,798th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Montevideo City
last on record 2004
Chance is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New Zealand
last on record 2023
Chance is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
last on record 2015
Chance is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Chance
Most people given the name Chance in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Chance · Names that go with Chance · Climbers and fallers
The Chance deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Chance truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Chance fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Chance fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Chance to your family’s tree →