Chance is an English word name that means "luck" or "good fortune"; it comes from the Old French cheance, which goes back to the Latin cadere, "to fall", as in the fall of the dice. In the Middle Ages it was also a short form of Chauncey. Chance was most popular in the United States around the turn of the century, at number 212 in 2000; after a long, slow slide it ranks number 442 in 2025.