Holiday Calendar

National Chase Day

Next celebratedWednesday, November 11, 2026

Chase was a word for hunting long before it was anybody's first name, and November 11 is about the people, not the pursuit. The reference books agree on what it meant and still argue about the road it took.

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Last updated September 7, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?
YEARLY DATENovember 11
OBSERVED INInternationally
CATEGORYNames
ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY
Not documented
FIRST OBSERVED
Not documented
HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

Three different dates, and nothing to settle them.

National Chase Day is carried here on November 11, while other name-day listings place a Chase day on November 16 and on February 27. No founder, establishment record or first observance can be documented, and no primary record resolves which date is right.

+ Know the story? Submit a founder Help us complete this holiday
INTRO

The name America barely used for a century

The Social Security Administration has recorded 181,160 American boys named Chase. Almost every one of them arrived after 1982. The whole century before that produced 2,041.

That is 98.9 percent of all the boys on record with the name, crowded into its most recent stretch. The name was available the whole time. Almost nobody reached for it.

Then the curve broke in 1982. The name's share of American baby boys rose 4.77 times over in a single year. No boys' name with at least 100 births the year before rose faster.

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ORIGINS

Chase Day history

INTRODUCTION

Before Chase was a first name it was a word for what a hunter did. Behind the Name traces it to an English surname meaning "chase, hunt" in Middle English, and calls it originally a nickname for a huntsman.

That is not quite settled. Other naming references derive it from the Old French "chace", a hunt or a pursuit, and allow either a nickname for a skilled huntsman or a straight occupational label. The reference works agree on the meaning and split on the mechanism.

CHAPTER 01

A surname that America left alone

As a given name, Chase spent most of its recorded American life going almost unused. It first surfaces in federal birth data in 1885, with five boys. Then it disappears and reappears for decades.

The name is missing altogether from 40 of the annual files. The agency lists only names given to at least five babies in a year, and Chase kept falling below that line. It did not hold a steady place among America's thousand most common boys' names until the 1970s.

CHAPTER 02

One year that broke the curve

Then 1982 happened. Measured as a share of all American boys born, no other name in the comparison rose as steeply that year. Cole came closest, at 2.66 times its previous share.

It was not a fashion for surname names lifting every boat. Twelve comparable surname-forenames rose by a median of 1.11 times across the same two years of federal birth data. The comparison pool ran to 893 boys' names, and Chase led every one of them.

CHAPTER 03

What sat alongside that year

Falcon Crest premiered on CBS on December 4, 1981, with Robert Foxworth playing Chase Gioberti, a nephew arriving to claim his share of a California wine estate. That makes 1982 the first full birth cohort after the show reached air. A naming reference sets the jump beside the premiere and stops there, which is the honest place to stop: the timing is exact, the size is unmatched, and nobody has shown that one caused the other.

CHAPTER 04

A day with no author

The holiday is the part of this story with no record at all. No founder, no first observance, no proclamation. A search of the Federal Register turns up no document carrying the day's name, and the calendars that list a Chase day cannot agree on when it falls.

TIMELINE

Timeline

First appearance in the record

Five American boys are named Chase, the first year the federal data lists it at all.

The unbroken run begins

Chase enters America's top 1,000 boys' names and has not left in any year since.

Falcon Crest premieres on CBS

The prime time soap opera debuts on December 4 with Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti.

The year the curve broke

Chase goes from 194 births to 938 in a single year, its steepest climb on record.

Into the top 100

Chase reaches America's 100 most common boys' names for the first time.

The high-water mark

Chase peaks at 61st, its high point by births and by share in the same year.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Chase Day by the Numbers

23 yrs
Chase in the US top 100 boys' names
7,394
US boys named Chase at the 2009 peak
1,904
US boys named Chase in 2025
52,481
Americans with Chase as a surname, 2010

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Chase Day

LAYERS

A surname now handed out more often than it is inherited

Chase arrived in American life as a surname, and it is now handed to newborns far more often than it is inherited as a last name. The two counts measure different things, a living population against more than a century of births, so the gap is a direction rather than a precise ratio.

LANGUAGE

A working Middle English verb, still in use

Chase keeps a Middle English hunting word in circulation as something parents write on birth certificates. The word outlived the work it described and travelled from surname to given name.

REACH

Not only an American name

Behind the Name records Chase ranked 517th in England and Wales in 2025, its most recent published figure outside the United States. The name travelled with the language rather than staying put.

GOOD TO KNOW

Surprising facts about National Chase Day

Chase Utley was one of 143

The Phillies second baseman was born in December 1978, a year in which just 143 American boys were given the name. By the time he won the 2008 World Series it was going to more than 7,000 a year.

The girls' peak lands on two different years

The most girls named Chase were born in 2004, but the highest share of girls came in 1997. Which year counts as the peak depends entirely on which measure you use.

The fall has been as steep as the climb

Chase has dropped 74.2 percent by annual births since its 2009 peak, and 70.1 percent measured as a share of American boys. The share figure matters because it rules out a shrinking birth cohort as the explanation.

NASCAR's Chase Elliott was born William

The 2020 Cup Series champion is William Clyde Elliott II. Chase is the name he goes by, not the one on his birth certificate, which is a common trap in lists of famous Chases.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Chase Day

EDITOR'S PICK

Look up the year your Chase was born

The Social Security Administration publishes a file for every year since 1880. Find the birth year and see how many other boys got the name that same year.

WATCH

Watch the show that shares the name's big year

Falcon Crest ran for nine seasons on CBS from 1981 to 1990. Start with the first episode and meet the character whose arrival coincided with the name's steepest climb.

TRACE

Trace the word back to the hunt

Chase began as a Middle English word for hunting before it was ever a person. Read the etymology and you will find the reference books agreeing on the meaning and arguing about the route.

SETTLE

Settle which Chase day you actually mean

The listings do not agree on a date, and no tradition settles it. Pick the one your family uses and say so.

COUNT

Count the Chases in a team roster

Wikipedia's list of notable people named Chase runs heavily to athletes, which is what a 1980s birth cohort looks like in adulthood. Scan a squad list and see how many turn up.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Chase Day?

1 / 8

In which single year did the name Chase post its largest rise in share of American baby boys?

Answer

No. It is an unofficial observance with no legal standing found, and a search of the Federal Register returns no document containing the name. November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States, which is a federal public holiday, but that is a separate observance.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

12sources
3primary records
3independently dated
Primary records
US Social Security Administration2025
National data on baby names (names.zip, 1880 to 2025)
Every American birth name given to five or more babies, year by year since 1880.
View source
US Census Bureau2010
Frequently Occurring Surnames from the 2010 Census
Rank and count for every surname reported 100 or more times in the 2010 Census.
View source
Federal Register
Documents full-text search API
Searchable text of US federal documents, including presidential proclamations.
View source
Additional coverage
Behind the Name2022
Meaning, origin and history of the name Chase
Etymology of the given name and its most recent published rankings by country.
View source
Wikipedia
Falcon Crest
The CBS soap opera's nine-season run and its cast, including Chase Gioberti.
View source
Wikipedia
Salmon P. Chase
The Treasury secretary and chief justice, and his lack of any tie to the bank bearing his name.
View source
Wikipedia
Chase Bank
The bank's 1877 formation by John Thompson and the origin of its name.
View source
Wikipedia
Chase Utley
The second baseman's career, six All-Star selections and 2008 World Series win.
View source
Wikipedia
Chase Elliott
The NASCAR driver's full legal name and his 2020 Cup Series championship.
View source
Oh Baby! Names
Chase: etymology and historical origin of the baby name
Places the name's 1981 to 1982 jump beside the Falcon Crest premiere.
View source
name-day.eu
Chase: Name day
Lists a Chase name day on November 16 in its United States calendar.
View source
Nameday
Chase Name Day
Lists a Chase name day on February 27, a third competing date.
View source
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