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Chester

boy name
Origin
English
Syllables
2
Peak era
1910s/1920s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Chester and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

fortified town (from Latin castra)

Goes by Chet. See all nicknames

How popular is Chester around the world?

In the United States, 566 babies were named Chester between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 388 boys named Chester were born in 2025, the 128th most common name among boys that year.

Chester is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Scotland, New Zealand, South Australia, Canada, Chile and Brazil.

United States

1 in 38,000

In the United States, 566 babies were named Chester between 2020 and 2025.

peak 1910s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Chester peaked in the 1910s and the 1920s in nearly equal measure. Chester went to 28,675 US babies in the 1920s, its high point before 1940, and to 1,406 across the 2010s and 2020s together.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

England and Wales

1 in 1,500

In England and Wales, 388 boys named Chester were born in 2025, the 128th most common name among boys that year.

1996peak 2020

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

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Scotland

1 in 3,800

In Scotland, 12 boys named Chester were registered in 2024, the 307th most common name among boys that year.

2000peak 2020

share of that year’s name registrations

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

See the full list for Scotland →

New Zealand

1 in 4,400

In New Zealand, 13 boys named Chester were registered in 2025.

2020peak 20212025

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

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South Australia

1 in 4,600 · 2017

In South Australia, 4 boys were registered as Chester in 2017.
The count never rose above 6 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

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Canada

1 in 18,000

In Canada, 20 boys named Chester were born in 2024, ranked 1,181st among boys that year.

1991peak 2023

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)

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Chile

1 in 180,000

In Chile, 1 boy was registered as Chester in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

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Brazil

1 in 1M

At the 2022 census, 249 people in Brazil were named Chester, ranked 21,756th, with a median age of 44.
Among people named Chester living in Brazil at the 2022 census, roughly as many were born in the 1970s as in the 1980s, more than in any other decade.

1960s1990s

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

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Argentina

last on record 2023

Chester is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Austria

last on record 2024

Chester is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Ireland

last on record 2024

Chester is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Montevideo City

last on record 1974

Chester 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

See the full list for Montevideo →

Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Chester

People given the name Chester in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1940 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Chester

Wesley Ford Kent York Washington Wellington

Where Chester travels

Polish · Historically used in Polish American communities as an English stand-in for Czesław.

Keep exploring

Nicknames for Chester · Polish baby names · The hundred-year rule

Name trails: explore connections from Chester →

The Chester deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Chester 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 Chester fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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