# Chad (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/chad/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “alpha male”, “successful white man”, “yuppie” |
| Pronunciation | /t͡ʃæd/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | Chaddy |
| Variant spellings | Tchad |
| US babies named this | 241,767 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 240,728 / 1,039 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,161, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Chadde, from Old English Ċeadda, of obscure meaning; name of a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon saint, revived in the 20th century. The sense of “alpha male” originates from an apparent stereotype that men with such a name tend to bear that temperament, first attested in c. late 1990s in Chicago, Illinois (specifically "successful white man, yuppie"), but in common usage only as of the late 2010s via 4chan and California slang.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 51 | 2,030 |
| 1983 | 47 | 2,101 |
| 1984 | 37 | 2,520 |
| 1985 | 50 | 2,107 |
| 1986 | 33 | 2,857 |
| 1987 | 39 | 2,581 |
| 1988 | 28 | 3,405 |
| 1989 | 11 | 7,040 |
| 1990 | 6 | 11,648 |
| 1991 | 8 | 9,477 |
| 1992 | 8 | 9,630 |
| 1994 | 7 | 10,774 |
| 1995 | 5 | 13,804 |
| 1996 | 5 | 13,897 |
| 2004 | 6 | 14,522 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 439 | 570 |
| 2012 | 434 | 589 |
| 2013 | 358 | 674 |
| 2014 | 346 | 705 |
| 2015 | 314 | 760 |
| 2016 | 291 | 799 |
| 2017 | 220 | 948 |
| 2018 | 241 | 899 |
| 2019 | 175 | 1,118 |
| 2020 | 150 | 1,241 |
| 2021 | 158 | 1,218 |
| 2022 | 132 | 1,404 |
| 2023 | 108 | 1,611 |
| 2024 | 90 | 1,810 |
| 2025 | 96 | 1,701 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 25 | 1,082 |
| 2011 | 28 | 976 |
| 2012 | 19 | 1,313 |
| 2013 | 19 | 1,294 |
| 2014 | 21 | 1,223 |
| 2015 | 24 | 1,121 |
| 2016 | 15 | 1,627 |
| 2017 | 12 | 1,923 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,011 |
| 2019 | 13 | 1,745 |
| 2020 | 7 | 2,682 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |
| 2022 | 10 | 2,165 |
| 2023 | 3 | 4,991 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,275 |

## People named Chad

- Chad Michael Murray, American actor
- Chad Hurley, American businessman, co-founder of YouTube
- Chad Smith, American drummer
- Chad Kroeger, Canadian rock musician
- Chad Coleman, American actor
- Chad Stahelski, American stuntman and film director
- Chad Allen, actor
- Chad Lindberg, American actor
- Chad Everett, American actor (1937–2012)
- Chad Channing, American musician
- Chad Hedrick, American speed skater
- Chad of Mercia, Archbishop of York; Bishop of Lichfield

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.