How common is the name Chad?

209,144 people in the United States have the first name Chad, about 1 in 1,444. It ranks #265 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CHAD

#265

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
209,144
About
1 in 1,444
This common or more
46.7%
Who bears it

Of the 209,144 people named Chad, 89% reported their origin as White, 3.8% as Black and 3% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Chad peaked in 1972, when 13,441 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19142025
Peak year
1972
Births that year
13,441
In 2025*
96 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 241,767 babies have been given the name since 1914. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Chad by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #52. The largest share of babies named Chad, 56.9%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1910s#5,84850
1920s#5,243103
1930s#3,612157
1940s#2,162451
1950s#1,2271,837
1960s#38615,952
1970s#52114,098
1980s#9969,431
1990s#25427,151
2000s#7248,522
2010s#1,5633,281
2020s#3,103734
Greatest Generation 1901–270.1%
Silent Generation 1928–450.2%
Baby boom 1946–641.9%
Generation X 1965–8056.9%
Millennials 1981–9633.5%
Generation Z 1997–126.3%
2013 and later1.1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Chad is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Chad has been most common in North Dakota (2.7×), South Dakota (2.6×), and Iowa (2.5×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.21×).

238,310 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Chad

#263 Oscar · 212,946#264 Dana · 210,579#266 Connie · 209,013#267 Jeff · 208,615

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Chad, most common first.

#7,329 Chadd · 2,091#25,865 Chadi · 364#26,708 Chat · 347#31,475 Chade · 272#45,829 Ched · 147

Also a last name

As a last name, Chad ranks #66,829 of 156,621, with 319 people. See Chad as a last name

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