Head to head · Boys' names
Camden vs Chase
#205 vs #192 in 2025 · Old English vs Old French roots · both stepping back from its peak
Chase is a whisker ahead (#192 vs #205 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Chase leads 5 measures of 6; Camden leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Camden —, Chase #936 — Chase higher
- 1890s: Camden —, Chase #994 — Chase higher
- 1910s: Camden #3777, Chase #2829 — Chase higher
- 1920s: Camden #4053, Chase #3441 — Chase higher
- 1930s: Camden #2479, Chase #3398 — Camden higher
- 1940s: Camden #3236, Chase #2806 — Chase higher
- 1950s: Camden #3702, Chase #2681 — Chase higher
- 1960s: Camden #3423, Chase #1812 — Chase higher
- 1970s: Camden #3489, Chase #805 — Chase higher
- 1980s: Camden #1654, Chase #245 — Chase higher
- 1990s: Camden #733, Chase #96 — Chase higher
- 2000s: Camden #252, Chase #78 — Chase higher
- 2010s: Camden #138, Chase #86 — Chase higher
- 2020s: Camden #185, Chase #151 — Chase higher
Chase stood higher in 13 of 14 decades; Chase has held the lead since the 1940s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Camden | Chase |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #936 |
| 1890s | — | #994 |
| 1910s | #3777 | #2829 |
| 1920s | #4053 | #3441 |
| 1930s | #2479 | #3398 |
| 1940s | #3236 | #2806 |
| 1950s | #3702 | #2681 |
| 1960s | #3423 | #1812 |
| 1970s | #3489 | #805 |
| 1980s | #1654 | #245 |
| 1990s | #733 | #96 |
| 2000s | #252 | #78 |
| 2010s | #138 | #86 |
| 2020s | #185 | #151 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Camden
valley name (from Old English denu, 'valley')
The last element is agreed: the Old English denu, a valley. The first element is argued over — readings of the Gloucestershire place name Campden include 'valley with enclosures' and 'winding valley', and the record is too thin to pick a winner. Either way it is a landscape name, not a virtue or a lineage.
Campden (Old English place name, from denu, 'valley') → Camden (surname) → Camden
How it traveled
Camden began as English ground — Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire — and became a surname for families from there. The Elizabethan historian William Camden gave the surname its fame, an earldom took it up, and the earl's title was in turn stamped on Camden Town in London and Camden, New Jersey.
Chase
hunt, or hunting ground
From Old French chacier, 'to hunt', which gave Middle English chace — both the pursuit and the enclosed land set aside for it. As a surname it marked a huntsman.
chacier (Old French) → chace (Middle English) → Chase (English surname) → Chase (given name)
How it traveled
The root is Old French chacier, 'to hunt', carried into England after the Norman Conquest and worn down into Middle English chace. In medieval England a chase was also a place: unfenced hunting land held by a lord, a word still sitting in English place names like Cannock Chase and Chevy Chase, the latter familiar from the fifteenth-century border ballad.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Camden
KAM-den
Two crisp syllables; the second is unstressed, as in London's Camden Town.
- Cam — The near-universal short, used from childhood on; it also stands alone on birth certificates.
- Cammy — Informal and affectionate, mostly inside families; used for boys and girls alike.
Chase
CHAYSS
One syllable, ending in a clean s sound rather than a z. Spelling and sound match, in English and for most English-speaking countries.
- Chasey — Informal, mostly used within families and by close friends; rarely written down.
- Chay — Occasional spoken clipping; not established as a standalone given name in the US.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Camden if you want…
- a name fewer children share#205 in 2025 — camden will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with more sound in itCamden runs 2 syllables, Chase 1
Choose Chase if you want…
- a name most people already know#192 in 2025, 1,904 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsChase is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesChase is 1 syllable to Camden's 2
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Camden
Strengths
- Comes with Cam built in — a short form that needs no explaining.
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, with no rival spelling in wide use.
- True of either child: the spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys, and it reads cleanly on both.
To consider
- Class lists now hold many Cam- names — Camden, Kamden, Camren, Cameron — and they blur together aloud.
- It is also two well-known city districts; Londoners and New Jerseyans will each hear their own first.
- Though recorded for both, nearly every Camden is a boy — a girl with the name will regularly meet surprised expectations, which some families count as a feature.
Chase
Strengths
- One syllable, spelled exactly as it sounds — almost never misspelled or mispronounced by an English speaker.
- A documented English surname with a traceable line back to Old French, so the history is real rather than guessed.
- Reads clearly as a given name in the US while still working like a surname, which pairs easily with most last names.
To consider
- It is also an everyday English verb, so the name will meet puns and playground jokes — cut to the chase, chasing after. Most bearers grow used to it early.
- In the US the word is bound up with one of the country's largest banks, which means the name shares its spelling with a brand seen on nearly every high street.
- There is little to shorten. Chase is already as short as it gets, so a child who wants a nickname will have to invent one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Camden and Chase in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Camden and Chase?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Place names on the map and the birth certificate
- Surname names used up front
- Names ending in -den / -don
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- all guides
Where Camden and Chase each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Camden or Chase — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Camden or Chase?
- Chase, in 2025: Chase ranked #192 with 1,904 babies; Camden ranked #205 with 1,722 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Camden or Chase?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Camden moved down 38 places; Chase moved down 69 places.
- Which is the older name, Camden or Chase?
- Camden entered the US charts in 1915; Chase entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Chase is the older name.
- How many people are named Camden and Chase?
- About 58,500 people named Camden are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 178,000 people named Chase are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Camdens or Chases in the classroom?
- Camden will almost certainly be the only one in school. Chase will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Camden, Chase and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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