Baby Name of the Day: Chance

The baby name Chance marries modern virtue names with a strong, capable sound.

Thanks to Emily for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

WHAT DOES THE NAME CHANCE MEAN?

The word chance has been around since at least the 1300s. It comes from the Old French cheance, referring to luck, ultimately from the Latin cadere – to fall, as in the way that dice fall.

It’s a fascinating word.

Chance signals opportunity and fortune – possibly good fortune. But it also suggests risk and randomness. We take our chances – accepting what happens. And a chance can be a gamble – the equivalent of a lottery ticket or a spin of the wheel.

Philosophers have discussed it, from (at least) Aristotle onward.

But how did it become a given name?

CHANCE AS A SURNAME

If you were a gambler, you might’ve ended up with the surname Chance.

Or you survived an accident, or otherwise were considered fortunate – so much so that it became part of your identity and eventually your surname.

And, of course, a handful of names that sound like the English word Chance were also absorbed. These include the German Schantz, which – as luck would have it – can also refer to games of chance. But it may have other origins, too.

CHANCE AS A NICKNAME

There are at least a handful of variations on some kind of luck story that lead to Chance as a nickname. 

In the 1980s, Marvel’s Spider-Man gave us Nicholas Powell, a professional gambler looking for a bigger thrill. The character answered to Chance.

And the Sunday comic strip Hi and Lois was written first by Dik Browne. His son, Robert “Chance” Browne, took over in 1989.

20TH CENTURY CHANCE

We’ve always loved word names, but a particular category started to rise during the late 20th century. Similar names, like Destiny, became popular in English-speaking countries. 

But the baby name Chance has been rising throughout the last hundred years. What explains it?

One possibility: A 1955 horse racing movie titled The Fighting Chance might be just enough to explain a handful of births. (Though there’s a Lucky Jim in the movie – but no one named Chance.) In 1955, five boys received the name.

By 1959, Tennessee Williams had transformed two earlier one-act plays into Sweet Bird of Youth, the story of Chance Wayne. It became a 1962 movie starring Paul Newman as Chance.

The play leaned a little dark, with a gory ending. But the movie? It was far sunnier, with many of the harshest parts of the original discarded, and a happier ending for Chance.

The movie was also a hit, earning several cast members Academy Award nominations and making plenty of money. It also seems to have boosted the baby name Chance. In 1961, just eight boys received the name. By 1963? The baby name Chance had been given to 52 boys.

Then along came Dean Chance.

In 1964, Chance became the youngest Major League Baseball pitcher to ever win the Cy Young Award. He’d played his rookie season in 1962 – meaning it’s possible Paul Newman doesn’t get all the credit for the name’s initial rise.

BEING THERE and MORE POP CULTURE USES

Another movie likely gets credit for making the baby name Chance a mainstream favorite.

In 1970, Jerzy Kosinksi penned the novel Being There. It became a 1979 movie starring Peter Sellers in an Oscar-nominated performance.

Being There tells the story of a simple-minded gardener in the employ of a wealthy family. Through a series of misunderstandings, he becomes a Washington pundit … and perhaps a candidate for high office himself.

As a gardener, the character was known as Chance. But in his mistaken identity, he became known as Chauncey.

In fact, Chauncey – a preppy surname name – ranked in the US Top 1000 most years from 1880 throughout much of the 1900s – often shortened to Chance. Aviation pioneer Chauncey “Chance” Vought is one example.

By 1980, 207 boys – along with a handful of girls – were given the baby name Chance.

By the 1990s, the name appeared regularly.

Michael J. Fox voiced a lost puppy by the name in 1993’s Homeward Bound.

And, later that same year, Jean-Claude Van Damme starred as Chance Boudreaux in action movie Hard Target, which marked John Woo’s directorial debut in the US.

CHANCE THE RAPPER

Of course, Chance has another association these days: Chance the Rapper.

Born Chancelor Bennett, he scored a string of Grammy Awards in 2016, and continues to record and build his career.

Chancellor – with two Ls – is also a title. The most common use today is for the head of a university – though it can also be used in religious settings.

HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME CHANCE?

We know that surname names often migrate to the first spot.

Plenty of pop culture uses pushed the name forward, too, from baseball to Hollywood to music. 

In 1967, 106 boys received the name – enough to tip it into the United States Top 1000.

By 1996, the baby name Chance peaked at #154 on the popularity charts, representing over 2,200 births.

It fit with trends, but also opened the door for new word names for our kids. Maverick is among the Top 100 most popular names now, in part because Chance came first.

In recent years, the baby name Chance has fallen in use. As of 2024, it charts at #418.

MODERN VIRTUE NAME

Despite falling in use, the meaning of the name Chance resonates in the 2020s still. It’s not as heavy as fate or even Destiny, but it suggests a mix of adventure and good fortune, too. 

If names like Haven and Journey read as modern virtue picks, then so does the baby name Chance. It is bolder than classic Jack, but somehow not as dramatic as names like Legend. 

Overall, the baby name Chance feels like a surprisingly safe bet.

Would you consider the baby name Chance?

First published on January 19, 2011, this post was revised substantially and re-published on November 15, 2020 and December 2, 2025.