Chester

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Chester: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Chester: Recorded every year since 1996, it reached #84 in 2020, and it stood at #116 in 2024.

4registrars recorded it
40times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#84highest recorded position
10groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#654
1997	#554
1998	#629
1999	#603
2000	#691
2001	#814
2002	#907
2003	#833
2004	#1110
2005	#872
2006	#814
2007	#677
2008	#527
2009	#520
2010	#543
2011	#588
2012	#507
2013	#581
2014	#359
2015	#231
2016	#225
2017	#195
2018	#112
2019	#90
2020	#84
2021	#87
2022	#91
2023	#89
2024	#116

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #116 among boys in England and Wales, #307 among boys in Scotland, #785 among boys in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #654 among boys in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #84 among boys in England and Wales, in 2020 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #116 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Chester appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 5,862 births with the name.

Chester across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Chester's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#654 (1996)	#84 (2020)	#116 (2024)	29 of 29	5,862 (1996–2024)	691 (2020)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#365 (2018)	#249 (2023)	#249 (2023)	6 of 6	34 (2018–2023)	7 (2021)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#637 (2020)	#584 (2023)	#785 (2024)	4 of 5	15 (2020–2024)	5 (2023)

Chester by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Chester in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	113	4 of 10	28
2000s	337	10 of 10	34
2010s	2,382	10 of 10	238
2020sbusiest	3,030	5 of 10	606

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 606 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2017 and 2018, when recorded births rose by 276, from 279 to 555.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Chester appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #84 in England and Wales in 2020.

Chester's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#116	464	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#89	583	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#91	612	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#87	680	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#84	691	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#90	680	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#112	555	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#195	279	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#225	248	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#231	247	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#359	116	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#581	61	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#507	74	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#588	59	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#543	63	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#520	67	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#527	64	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#677	42	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#814	31	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#872	26	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1110	17	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#833	24	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#907	19	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#814	21	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#691	26	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#603	29	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#629	28	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#554	32	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#654	24	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	male	#249	7	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	male	#264	7	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	male	#266	7	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	male	#334	4	High	Verified
2019	Northern Ireland	male	#312	5	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	male	#365	4	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	male	#785	3	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	male	#584	5	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	male	#755	3	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	male	#637	4	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#307	12	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #84, first reached in 2020.

It held a top-100 place in 5 years, 5 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 691 births, registered in England and Wales in 2020.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2018, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Chesky · #1875, 13y
Chesney · #506, 13y
Cheyanne · #286, 26y
Cheyenne · #63, 29y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Ewan · #84, 32y
Iona · #83, 32y
Khloe · #83, 29y
Renae · #83, 34y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Koby · #84, 29y
Iarlaith · #85, 24y
Khloe · #83, 29y
Ruaridh · #85, 27y

Chester was ranked #84 in England and Wales · Boys in 2020. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Chester and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Chester without appearing here.

Chester moved ahead of

Barry Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1110 and #815 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #872 and #1617.
Derek Compare
In 2004 they stood at #1110 and #999 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2005 that had become #872 and #1456.
Darragh Compare
In 2007 they stood at #677 and #651 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #527 and #943.
Courtney Compare
In 2002 they stood at #907 and #907 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2003 that had become #833 and #1248.

Moved ahead of Chester

Arlo Compare
In 2008 they stood at #527 and #567 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2009 that had become #520 and #311.
Hunter Compare
In 2010 they stood at #543 and #625 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2011 that had become #588 and #473.
Carter Compare
In 1996 they stood at #654 and #755 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1997 that had become #554 and #476.
Finley Compare
In 1996 they stood at #654 and #704 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1997 that had become #554 and #484.

Moved the opposite way to Chester

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Chester

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Chester went from #654 to #116 and Archie from #192 to #10.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #84 in England and Wales in 2020. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Chester

Chester at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Chester across 3 official records

Chester by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Chester appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Chester

Chester and the names beside it

Chester moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Chester

Moved the opposite way to Chester

Moved the same way as Chester

Chester at a glance

Chester across 3 official records

Chester by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Chester appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Chester

Chester and the names beside it

Chester moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Chester

Moved the opposite way to Chester

Moved the same way as Chester