How common is the surname Chaney?

33,201 people in the United States had the surname Chaney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,299 Americans. It ranked 1,059th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Chaney?

Lon Chaney, American actor (1883–1930), followed by Lon Chaney Jr..

Where is the surname Chaney most common?

Wikidata records people named Chaney in the United States.

Is the surname Chaney getting more or less common?

More common. 32,433 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 33,201 in 2010, up 2.4%.

Is Chaney also a first name?

Yes. Chaney is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Chaney

A Norman surname, carried by 33,201 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex C500

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Chaney is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

Norman origin

Variant of Chesney.

One of 128 Norman surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 33,201 people named Chaney in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,299 Americans. That is up 2.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 32,433.

#1,059

rank among US surnames

33,201

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.4%

change since 2000 (was #979)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,050	Bright	33,281	9,277
#1,051	Becerra	33,274	9,279
#1,052	Lindsay	33,255	9,284
#1,053	Ritter	33,252	9,285
#1,054	Cooley	33,231	9,291
#1,055	Fritz	33,224	9,293
#1,056	Cooke	33,223	9,293

Who is named Chaney

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

71% of people named Chaney identified as white (not Hispanic), 23% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 71%
Black (not Hispanic) 23%
Two or more races 2.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Chaneys

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Lon Chaney
American actor (1883–1930)
Lon Chaney Jr.
American actor (1906–1974)
Don Chaney
American basketball player and coach, born 1946
Norman Chaney
American child actor (1914–1936)
James Chaney
American activist (1943-1964)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Chaney

Chaney has the Soundex code C500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C500.

Other Norman surnames

All 128 Norman surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Chaney come from?: Variant of Chesney.
How common is the surname Chaney?: 33,201 people in the United States had the surname Chaney in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,299 Americans. It ranked 1,059th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Chaney?: In the 2010 Census, 71% of people named Chaney identified as white (not Hispanic), and 23% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Chaney?: Lon Chaney, American actor (1883–1930), followed by Lon Chaney Jr..
Where is the surname Chaney most common?: Wikidata records people named Chaney in the United States.
Is the surname Chaney getting more or less common?: More common. 32,433 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 33,201 in 2010, up 2.4%.
Is Chaney also a first name?: Yes. Chaney is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.