Fun Facts About the Name Chicago
- 175 babies named Chicago: U.S. records list 175 babies given the name Chicago from 1880 through 2025. Even 54 girls received the name Chicago - about 1 girl for every 2 boys.
What Does the Name Chicago Mean?
Chicago is a place name - the name of the city in Illinois - that is used occasionally as a given name in the United States. It comes from a word in Miami-Illinois, an Algonquian language once spoken around the southern Great Lakes. French speakers who explored and mapped the region in the late 1600s wrote the word as Chicagou or Checagou.
The Miami-Illinois form is usually reconstructed as šikaakwa. In the most common reading, that word names the wild leek or ramp (Allium tricoccum), a strong-smelling plant that grew thickly along the river and lake shore, so the place name is customarily translated as "place of the wild leek" or "wild onion place." The linguist Michael McCafferty has argued that the same word first meant "striped skunk" and was applied to the plant only later, so the precise sense behind the name is disputed. The language of origin itself is not in doubt; the name does not come from a European word or from a personal name.
Chicago Name History & Origins
French explorers and missionaries were the first Europeans to put the name in writing. Henri Joutel, who traveled with La Salle's expedition, used the form Chicagou in his journal in the 1680s, and the name appears on French maps of the period, including Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin's map of 1688. It was applied to the river, to the portage linking the Chicago and Des Plaines rivers, and to the surrounding area. The spelling settled into Chicago as English speakers took over the region in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
A town called Chicago was laid out in 1830 and incorporated in 1833, then became a city in 1837. As a personal name it is uncommon, and it is generally given with the city in mind rather than inherited from an earlier personal-name tradition. Because it is a transferred place name, it has no long line of use in any one language, family, or religious community.
How Popular is the Name Chicago?
Chicago has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2023. Its best rank was #5,999 in 1995.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,471 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2024 | #8,529 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2023 | #11,386 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2022 | #9,838 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2021 | #13,845 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #14,169 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,284 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #6,505 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2023 | #6,276 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2022 | #7,352 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2021 | #6,776 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2020 | #8,190 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2019 | #12,501 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2018 | #12,512 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #9,745 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2008 | #11,304 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #11,746 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #7,698 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #7,261 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #5,999 | 9 | 0.0005% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Chicago Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are cheerful and friendly, but are apt to have an emotional life. You like to have several lines of effort going at once. You are a good talker and promoter and seldom worry over anything. At times, you can be impatient, and impulsive. You have the ability to bring an idea to completion. You can express yourself joyously and constructively. You might be psychic, but not know it. You are intuitive and might be interested in the arts, drama or science.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Chicago's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Chicago's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.