Chauncey
An English masculine name derived from the place name Céanci meaning "chalky".
Name Census estimates that about 7,223 living Americans carry the first name Chauncey. It is a predominantly male name (95.0% of registrations). The average person named Chauncey today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chauncey births was 1981 (188 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chauncey. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Chauncey is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 508 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
7.2K
~ 1 in 47,453 Americans
Peak year
1981
188 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,951
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Chauncey
Chauncey leans heavily male at 95.0% of total registrations, but 508 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Chauncey as a male name
- Ranked #2,951 in 2024
- 42 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1981 (173 births)
Chauncey as a female name
- Ranked #17,123 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1992 (26 births)
Popularity
Chauncey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chauncey from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,577 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chauncey 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 Chauncey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chaunceys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Chauncey, while District of Columbia, Kansas, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 140 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chauncey
The name Chauncey is of Old French origin, derived from the medieval surname "de Chauncy" or "de Chasseneuz". This surname was likely derived from the name of a place in France, possibly a town or village called Chauncy or Chasseneuz.
The earliest recorded use of the name Chauncey dates back to the 11th century in medieval England. It was initially used as a surname by Norman-French settlers after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Over time, the surname evolved into a given name, particularly among the English nobility and gentry.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Chauncey was Sir Chauncey de Chauncy, who lived in the 13th century and was a member of the English landed gentry. Another early bearer of the name was Sir Chauncey Heydon (c. 1265-1327), an English landowner and military commander during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Chauncey gained popularity among the Puritans in England and later in the American colonies. Chauncey Gardiner (1597-1663) was an English Puritan minister and one of the founders of the first Baptist church in England.
Chauncey Townsend (1668-1738) was an early American settler and landowner in colonial New York. He was born in England and immigrated to America in the late 17th century, becoming one of the first settlers in what is now Oyster Bay, Long Island.
Another notable figure was Chauncey Whittelsey (1717-1787), an American politician and jurist who served as a member of the Continental Congress and as a judge in Connecticut.
During the American Revolutionary War, Chauncey Goodrich (1759-1815) was an American military officer and politician from Connecticut. He served as a major in the Continental Army and later became a Federalist member of the United States House of Representatives.
Chauncey Vibbard (1778-1851) was an American pioneer and early settler in northeastern Ohio. He was one of the first settlers in the Western Reserve region and helped establish the town of Chardon, Ohio.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Chauncey, showcasing its historical usage and significance across various contexts.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Chauncey
People
Chauncey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chauncey 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
Chauncey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chauncey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,223 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chauncey 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 47,453 US residents.
Is Chauncey a common name?
We classify Chauncey as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,169 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chauncey most popular?
The single biggest year for Chauncey was 1981, when 188 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chauncey is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Chauncey a male name?
Yes, 95.0% of people registered as Chauncey 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.
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.