Chad

Where Chad comes from

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.
— Wiktionary's entry for Chad
  • Old English
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1914
    First appearance
    #1,975 among boys, 11 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1972
    Peak, #25
    13,392 babies named Chad — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1977
    Chad Hurley born
    American businessman, co-founder of YouTube
  4. 1981
    Chad Michael Murray born
    American actor
  5. 1985
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #57.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Old English; also a modern nickname for Charles, Chadwick and similar-sounding names.
Namesakes
  • Chad Michael Murray · American actor, born 1981
  • Chad Hurley · American businessman, co-founder of YouTube, born 1977
  • Chad Smith · American drummer, born 1961
  • Chad Kroeger · Canadian rock musician, born 1974
  • Chad le Clos · South African swimmer, born 1992

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.