Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago is the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the largest Catholic dioceses in the United States. The church serves as the episcopal seat of the current Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich.

Dedicated on November 21, 1875, Holy Name Cathedral replaced the Cathedral of Saint Mary and the Church of the Holy Name, which were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. During renovations, a fire in 2009 caused major damage to the roof and interior of the church. The damage was repaired and the cathedral reopened later that year.

At the time of the founding of the Diocese of Chicago on September 30, 1843, Bishop William Quarter led his faithful from the Cathedral of Saint Mary at the southwest corner of Madison and Wabash streets. A few years later in 1851, an immense brick church called the Church of the Holy Name was being constructed on State Street between Huron and Superior streets. Its cornerstone was set in 1852. In October 1871, however, both churches were destroyed as the Great Chicago Fire engulfed all of the city; its pastor John McMullen toured the country to raise funds to rebuild the churches and to aid the homeless of Chicago. Meanwhile, Chicago's Catholics were forced to worship in what was called the shanty cathedral, a ruined house on Cass Street in the interim.

In 1874, Brooklyn architect Patrick Charles Keely, who would later also design St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, was selected to draw plans for the new cathedral of Chicago. On July 19 of that year, the cornerstone was laid. On November 21 of the following year, Bishop Thomas Foley dedicated the church and christened it the Cathedral of the Holy Name. In 1880, the Diocese of Chicago was reorganized to become the Archdiocese of Chicago and Holy Name Cathedral became the church of primacy over several other dioceses in the Midwest United States.

In 1888, surveyors noticed that the cathedral was sagging on its Superior Street side. This prompted the archbishop to commence with the cathedral's first renovation projects. By 1915, Holy Name Cathedral was balanced out and saved from sinking into the ground. It was also lengthened by 15 feet (4.6 m) to accommodate the growing Catholic population. That same year, James Edward Quigley, Archbishop of Chicago, died. The first major Mass of the newly rededicated cathedral was the late archbishop's funeral.

In 1924, Archbishop George Mundelein was elevated by the pope to become a cardinal. When he returned from consistory at the Vatican, the new cardinal was greeted at Holy Name Cathedral with a celebratory procession of over 80,000 Catholics. Mundelein also managed to get Chicago named the host city for the 28th International Eucharistic Congress in 1926, with the opening mass being held at the cathedral.

When Cardinal Mundelein died unexpectedly in his sleep in October 1939, Chicago City Hall hastily paved State Street where the subway was being constructed to accommodate the great influx of mourners expected to make the pilgrimage. As Cardinal Mundelein lay in state in the nave of Holy Name Cathedral, over a million people paid their last respects.

As soon as the Second Vatican Council was concluded in the 1960s, Holy Name Cathedral proceeded with a massive, controversial renovation project to alter the cathedral interior. From Easter 1968 to 1969, the cathedral was closed and Masses were held in various locations including a nearby school gymnasium. At this time all of the stained glass, oil paintings, and marble statuary was removed from the interior of the cathedral. The result was a relatively plain room, dominated by a six-ton granite altar and Resurrection crucifix. At midnight on Christmas Eve of 1969, Holy Name Cathedral was reopened.