Boys' name · peaked in 1918
Chester name popularity since 1925
72,378 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Chester (0.7% girls, 99.3% boys). Half of them were born in 1946 or earlier, so the typical Chester is about 80 years old in 2026. Chester peaked in 1918 as the #54 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 72,378
- Named Chester, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1918
- #54 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,588 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.3% boys
- 475 girls · 71,903 boys
- Most popular in
- Kentucky
- 2.87× its national share
Peak year is the year Chester made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Chester births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Chester peaked earlier, in 1918.
- Steepest fall: Between 1981 and 1986, Chester's share of baby boys fell by 39%, from 1 in 5,130 to 1 in 8,370.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Chester's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Chester.
Decade by decade
Babies named Chester in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 120 | 11,872 | – |
| 1930s | 114 | 14,413 | #121 |
| 1940s | 117 | 15,287 | #144 |
| 1950s | 78 | 12,780 | #203 |
| 1960s | 23 | 6,784 | #299 |
| 1970s | 18 | 4,132 | #407 |
| 1980s | 5 | 2,796 | #536 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,549 | #918 |
| 2000s | 0 | 884 | #1,507 |
| 2010s | 0 | 840 | #1,625 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 566 | #1,588 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
38.4% of babies named Chester from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Chester is most popular
The index compares Chester's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Chester.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 2.87× | 3,308 |
| Arkansas | 2.47× | 1,743 |
| West Virginia | 2.35× | 1,420 |
| Mississippi | 2.32× | 1,936 |
| Maine | 1.77× | 520 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Chester's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Chester.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Chester (1918).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data