Chimamanda vs Chip
American parents have registered 3,493 Chips since 1880, against 541 Chimamandas. But in 2025 it was Chimamanda that was commoner, 28 babies to 24.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Chimamanda Chip
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 79 years in which either name was published, Chip for 66 years and Chimamanda for 13 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.
- 1942–2007 Chip ahead
- 2008–2018 Chimamanda ahead
- 2019–2022 Chip ahead
- 2023 Chimamanda ahead
- 2024 Chip ahead
- 2025 Chimamanda ahead
Side by side
| Chimamanda | Chip | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 541 | 3,493 |
| Most in one year | 60 | 171 |
| Babies in 2025 | 28 | 24 |
| Estimated living today | 540 | 2,900 |
| Median age today | 7 | 58 |
| Peak year | 2018 | 1962 |
| Best rank | 2,810th girls | 593rd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 4,758th | 4,249th |
| First recorded | 2008 | 1942 |
| Girls / boys | 541 / 0 | 0 / 3,493 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Chips alive today are over 58; half the Chimamandas are over 7. That is 51 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Chimamanda Texas (9.6×), Maryland (7.0×)
- Chip Georgia (3.6×), Ohio (2.7×), North Carolina (2.3×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Chimamanda and Chip.