Chester

Where Chester comes from

From Middle English Chestre, from Old English Ċeaster, from ċeaster (“a town or city, especially a Roman one”). The village in Nova Scotia is likely named after the city in Pennsylvania.
— Wiktionary's entry for Chester
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1829
    Chester A. Arthur born
    president of the United States from 1881 to 1885
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #85 among boys — 168 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1919
    Peak, #53
    3,432 babies named Chester — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1932
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #112.
  5. 1976
    Chester Bennington born
    American singer, songwriter and musician
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Chester A. Arthur · president of the United States from 1881 to 1885, 1829–1886
  • Chester Bennington · American singer, songwriter and musician, 1976–2017
  • Chester W. Nimitz · United States Navy fleet admiral, 1885–1966
  • Chester Morris · American actor, 1901–1970

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.