# Chesney (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/chesney/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | “oak grove”, “oak” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Chainey, Chaney, Cheeney, Cheney, Cheyne, Cheyney |
| US babies named this | 2,821 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 157 / 2,664 (94% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 72, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Norman place names meaning “oak grove” (cognate to French chênaie), from Picard quesne, from Vulgar Latin *cassanus, probably from Gaulish kassanos (“oak”).

## What it means

Chesney is grouped under forest.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 66 | 2,669 |
| 2012 | 92 | 2,083 |
| 2013 | 88 | 2,140 |
| 2014 | 74 | 2,447 |
| 2015 | 68 | 2,627 |
| 2016 | 88 | 2,193 |
| 2017 | 81 | 2,288 |
| 2018 | 58 | 2,880 |
| 2019 | 64 | 2,687 |
| 2020 | 62 | 2,691 |
| 2021 | 83 | 2,234 |
| 2022 | 79 | 2,351 |
| 2023 | 66 | 2,651 |
| 2024 | 55 | 2,981 |
| 2025 | 61 | 2,785 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 15 | 5,296 |
| 2005 | 10 | 7,204 |
| 2006 | 5 | 12,363 |
| 2007 | 9 | 8,297 |
| 2008 | 7 | 10,045 |
| 2009 | 6 | 11,241 |
| 2010 | 10 | 7,685 |
| 2011 | 6 | 11,070 |
| 2013 | 6 | 10,984 |
| 2014 | 10 | 7,649 |
| 2015 | 5 | 12,407 |
| 2017 | 9 | 8,283 |
| 2018 | 9 | 8,282 |
| 2019 | 7 | 9,934 |
| 2024 | 11 | 7,346 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 4 | 3,126 |
| 1997 | 4 | 3,174 |
| 1998 | 7 | 2,165 |
| 1999 | 6 | 2,444 |
| 2003 | 3 | 4,373 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3 | 2,901 |
| 1999 | 3 | 2,943 |
| 2004 | 8 | 1,878 |
| 2005 | 13 | 1,456 |
| 2006 | 3 | 4,052 |
| 2007 | 3 | 4,333 |
| 2008 | 4 | 3,687 |
| 2011 | 4 | 3,830 |
| 2012 | 4 | 3,987 |
| 2023 | 3 | 4,991 |

## People named Chesney

- Chesney Hawkes, British singer
- Chet Baker, American jazz trumpeter and vocalist (1929-1988)

## 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.