Chanc
Borrowed from French, a form of the word "chance" meaning fortune or luck.
Name Census estimates that about 105 living Americans carry the first name Chanc. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chanc today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chanc births was 1988 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chanc. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
105
~ 1 in 3,264,327 Americans
Peak year
1988
10 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2002 SSA rank
#8,599
Tracked since 1971
Census
Chanc in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 162 people with the first name Chanc, which placed it at #43,512 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#43,512
National first-name rank
People counted
162
162 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chanc
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chanc is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Two or More Races (9.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Chanc described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Chanc at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.1% · 112
- Black or African American13.6% · 22
- Two or more races9.3% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 3
Popularity
Chanc: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chanc from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 45 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chanc by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Chanc during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chanc
The name Chanc has its roots in the Old French language, originating from the word "chance" which means "luck" or "fortune." The name can be traced back to the 12th century, during the medieval period in France.
In its earliest form, the name was spelled as "Chaunce" and was derived from the Latin word "cadentia," which referred to the falling or happening of events by chance or fortune. The name was often given to children born under auspicious circumstances or during times of good luck.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Chanc can be found in the historical records of the Duchy of Burgundy, where a nobleman named Chanc de Montbéliard lived in the late 12th century. He was a prominent figure in the court of Duke Hugh III of Burgundy and participated in the Third Crusade.
In the 14th century, a Franciscan friar named Chanc de Nîmes gained recognition for his work in translating religious texts into the Occitan language. His translations played a significant role in spreading Christianity in southern France.
During the Renaissance period, a renowned Italian sculptor named Chanc Bigio (1481-1554) made significant contributions to the art world. His most famous works include the marble relief sculptures adorning the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.
In the 17th century, a French explorer named Chanc de La Salle (1643-1687) became famous for his expeditions in North America. He was the first European to travel the length of the Mississippi River and claimed the territory of Louisiana for France.
Another notable figure was Chanc Villeneuve (1763-1806), a French naval officer who commanded the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar during the Napoleonic Wars. Despite his defeat by the British, he is remembered as a skilled tactician and brave commander.
While the name Chanc has its roots in the French language, it has also been used in other cultures and regions over the centuries, though its origins can be traced back to the medieval period in France and the concept of chance or fortune.
People
Chanc + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chanc as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Chanc: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chanc?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chanc going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,264,327 US residents.
Is Chanc a common name?
We classify Chanc as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 110 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chanc most popular?
The single biggest year for Chanc was 1988, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chanc is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chanc in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 162 people with the name Chanc, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,512 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Chanc in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Chanc?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chanc leans strongly male. 153 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 7 female bearers (4.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Chanc?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chanc is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Two or More Races (9.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Chanc most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chanc in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.1% (112 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Chanc in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chanc a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chanc in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Chanc still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chanc in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Chanc can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Chanc as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Chanc on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.