Chess
An Old English name believed to be derived from "chess," the strategy game.
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Chess. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Chess today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chess births was 1953 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chess. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Chess. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1953
8 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,385
Tracked since 1915
Census
Chess in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 157 people with the first name Chess, which placed it at #44,257 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
#44,257
National first-name rank
People counted
157
157 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chess
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chess is White at 75.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.1%) and Hispanic (5.7%). 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 Chess 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 Chess at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.2% · 118
- Black or African American12.1% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 9
- Two or more races3.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
Popularity
Chess: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chess from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Chess remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chess 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 Chess 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 Chess
The name Chess is a relatively modern invention, likely originating from a playful adaptation of the word "chess" – the strategy board game. It is believed to have first emerged as a given name in the late 19th or early 20th century, possibly inspired by the intellectual connotations and strategic nature of the game.
While the name itself does not have a direct linguistic origin or historical references in ancient texts or scriptures, its association with the game of chess can be traced back to its roots in ancient India. The game, known as "chaturanga" in Sanskrit, dates back to the 6th century CE and eventually spread across the world through various cultural exchanges.
The earliest recorded use of Chess as a given name is somewhat obscure, but it has been documented in various official records and historical documents throughout the 20th century. Some notable individuals who have borne this unique name include:
1. Chess Murahihi (1927-1979), a prominent Kenyan politician and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Kenya to the United Nations.
2. Chess Desmond (1935-2021), an American actor and comedian best known for his role in the television series "The Time Tunnel."
3. Chess Records (founded in 1950), a renowned American record company that was instrumental in popularizing blues and rock and roll music in the 1950s and 1960s.
4. Chess Gilliam (born 1974), an American basketball coach and former professional player who currently serves as the head coach of the Hampton University men's basketball team.
5. Chess Stetson (born 1967), an American artist and illustrator known for her intricate pen-and-ink drawings and illustrations for children's books.
While the name Chess may not have a rich historical lineage or deep cultural roots, its connection to the timeless game of chess and its associations with strategy, intellect, and creativity have undoubtedly contributed to its uniqueness and appeal as a given name in modern times.
People
Chess + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chess 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
Chess: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chess?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chess 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 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Chess a common name?
We classify Chess as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chess most popular?
The single biggest year for Chess was 1953, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chess is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chess in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 157 people with the name Chess, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,257 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 Chess 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 Chess?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Chess leans strongly male. 136 people counted with this name were male (85.0%), compared with 24 female bearers (15.0%). 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 Chess?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chess is White at 75.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.1%) and Hispanic (5.7%). 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 Chess most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chess in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.2% (118 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 Chess in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chess a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Chess 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 Chess still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chess 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 Chess 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 are called Chess?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.