Chandler
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Meaning
occupational surname, "candle maker"
The story
Chandler is the candle maker, an occupational surname from Middle English by way of the Old French for candle, and for its first American century it behaved like one, steady, dim, a few hundred a decade. Then Friends premiered in September 1994, and Chandler Bing turned the name into a punchline you could love: from about 1,700 in the 1980s it crested at 17,400 in the 1990s, a tenfold jump inside one decade, one of television's cleanest signatures anywhere in the record. The retreat since has been orderly, 13,000 in the 2000s, 8,300 in the 2010s, 4,220 so far this decade, and it goes about 36,500 boys to 10,400 girls. The occupational surnames run the same workshop road, Baker at about 9,000, Miller at 13,800, but none of them owns a sitcom. Could this name BE any more nineties? The record says no, affectionately.
How popular is Chandler around the world?
In the United States, 4,218 babies were named Chandler between 2020 and 2025.
Chandler is on the official records of the United States, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,200
In the United States, 4,218 babies were named Chandler between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Chandler peaked in the 1990s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In 2025 Chandler went to 296 girls and 342 boys in the US Social Security record, one of the few names given to girls and boys in nearly equal numbers.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 28,000
In Canada, 13 boys named Chandler were born in 2024, ranked 1,614th 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)
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 139 people in Brazil were named Chandler, ranked 32,750th, with a median age of 27.
Among people named Chandler living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
England and Wales
last on record 2024
Chandler is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
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
Scotland
last on record 1998
Chandler is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
last on record 2016
Chandler is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 5 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, New Zealand 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 Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. 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 Chandler
Most people given the name Chandler 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 Chandler · Names that go with Chandler · Truly unisex names
The Chandler deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Chandler 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 Chandler fits with your family’s names and surname.
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