Given name
Chelsea
“from the landing place for chalk”
Chelsea is used as a given name. One English interpretation is “from the landing place for chalk.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the landing place for chalk.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Old English Ċealchȳþ, built from Old English cealc (“chalk”) + hȳþ (“landing place”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1910. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Chelsea through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 163,335
- 451 boys · 162,884 girls
- Most popular year
- 1992
- 16,199 babies
- 2025
- 319
- #851 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −43%
- Cooling
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 319 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 851 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 42.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 16,177 in 1992. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (48). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 143,411 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Chelsea’s family of names
In English usage, Chelsea has a diminutive in CHELS. Chelsea has a related form in Chelsey. In English usage, Chelsea has a related form in Chelsey.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Chelsea
- Chelsea ManningAmerican activist and whistleblower (born 1987)
- Chelsea ClintonAmerican author and global health advocateborn 1980
- Chelsea KaneAmerican actress and singerborn 1988
- Chelsea HandlerAmerican comedian, actress, author and talk show hostborn 1975
- Chelsea PerettiAmerican comedian and actressborn 1978
- Chelsea WolfeAmerican singer-songwriterborn 1983
- Chelsea GreenCanadian professional wrestlerborn 1991
- Chelsea GrayAmerican basketball player (born 1992)
- Chelsea FieldAmerican actressborn 1957
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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