So what’s the connection, if any, of Chevy Chase the actor and Chevy Chase the [D.C. neighborhood and Maryland] suburb? Is there a proto-Chase? Is it merely a coincidence? Thanks.

After living in D.C. for years now, we still get this question from time to time. So we are putting it up in virtual print for all to see from now until we kill this site and its archives.

The answer? Nope, no connection really.

Chevy Chase, Md., was named after the Chevy Chase Land Company, which purchased the tract of land in the 1890s. The name Chevy Chase (also Chevoit) is considered originating from an English ballad from the 1600s (beware, linked page launches a midi).

Cornelius Crane Chase (Chevy Chase) was born in Woodstock, N.Y., in 1943 and got his start on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1970s. It’s possible that the actor scored his nickname from the town, but that hasn’t been confirmed or denied.

One forgotten part of the Chevy Chase naming saga is the District neighborhood south of Chevy Chase Circle and west of Connecticut Avenue. While this was originally known as Chevy Chase as well, Friendship Heights has become a more common moniker for the area, named after the Red Line station that straddles the District’s Western Avenue border with Maryland.

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