The name Chicago is a boy's name meaning "wild garlic".

Place Names

Animal Names for Boys

7 Letter Boy Names

Names Ending in O for Boys

Names That Mean Place

Names That Mean Wild

Names That Mean Garlic

Three Syllable Names for Boys

Sibling Names: The Ultimate Guide

Minty Names Freshen Up

O Boy! The Best Boy Names Ending in O

Don't Name Your Daughter Harper

Film Noir Names

Photography Names Are Picture-Perfect

Baseball Names Hit It Out of the Park

Vintage Surname Names Come Back Around

When Kim Kardashian and Kanye West named their daughter Chicago — after West's hometown — we expected it to rise for baby girls. But American parents have taken to Chicago as a boy name. It's been given to more boys than girls every year since 2018.
 
The city's name was derived from the Algonquin word shikaakwa, meaning "wild garlic". Onions, ramps, and garlic once grew in the area. The French transliterated shikaakwa to "Checagou" or "Chicagou", from which we get Chicago today.

American Place Names

Place Names for Babies

Names from Theater

Chicago

The name Chicago peaked for boys at #5999 in 1995. Chicago is occasionally used for girls in 2025.

The name Chicago is a girl's name meaning "wild garlic".

7 Letter Girl Names

Names Ending in O for Girls

Three Syllable Names for Girls

Girl Dog Names That Start With C

Dog Names That Start With C

Animal Names for Girls

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have done it again for their third child: Chosen a name that feels iconic yet strangely inevitable. They named North and Saint's younger sister Chicago, after Kanye's hometown. The name Chicago derives from a Native American word for "wild garlic," which once grew plentifully in the Illinois city, the third most populous in the US.
 
Though one of the distinctly <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/519/american-baby-names">American names</a>, Chicago has almost never been used as a first name before. The Social Security Administration reported six baby girls and five baby boys named Chicago in 2018, following the starbaby birth. In the years that have followed, Chicago has always been given to more boys than girls.

Celebrity Baby Word Names

Modern Baby Names

City Dog Names

Celebrity Girl Names

Gender-Neutral Celebrity Baby Names

City Names for Babies

Celebrity Baby Names

New Baby Names

Dog Names

Unique Place Names

Weird Celebrity Baby Names

New Baby Girl Names

Rocker and Rapper Baby Names

Patriotic Baby Names

Artistic Baby Names

Unique, Rare, and Unusual Girl Names

Unique Celebrity Baby Names

Modern Baby Girl Names

The name Chicago peaked for girls at #8471 in 2025. Chicago is occasionally used for boys in 2025.

Chicago

About Chicago

Chicago in blog posts

Chicago on more lists

Advanced Search

Save Chicago