Cadillac
A French masculine name derived from a title of land ownership.
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Cadillac. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cadillac today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cadillac births was 2010 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cadillac. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cadillac. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2010
6 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2010 SSA rank
#10,966
Tracked since 2010
Popularity
Cadillac: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Cadillac by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cadillac during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Cadillac
The name Cadillac has its origins in the French language, originating in the southwestern region of France known as Gascony. The name is derived from the Gascon word "cadilh," which means a small battle or skirmish, and "aq," which is a local suffix. Together, these elements form the name Cadillac, which can be translated as "place of the small battle."
Historically, the name Cadillac can be traced back to the early 17th century, when it first appeared as a place name in the Gironde region of France. The earliest recorded use of the name Cadillac as a given name dates back to the late 17th century, when it was bestowed upon Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer and colonist who founded the city of Detroit in 1701.
While the name Cadillac is not commonly found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. One of the most famous individuals to bear this name was Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658-1730), the aforementioned founder of Detroit, who was also a military officer and explorer in the service of the French Crown.
Another notable Cadillac was François Cadillac (1695-1776), a French-Canadian fur trader and explorer who played a significant role in the early settlement of the American West. In the 19th century, the name gained prominence with the rise of the Cadillac Automobile Company, founded by Henry Leland in 1902 and named after the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.
Other historical figures with the name Cadillac include Jean-Baptiste Cadillac (1692-1757), a French-Canadian fur trader and explorer, and Hippolyte Cadillac (1842-1912), a French architect and designer who was instrumental in the development of Art Nouveau architecture in France.
While the name Cadillac is relatively uncommon today, it has left an indelible mark on history, particularly in the realms of exploration, colonization, and automotive manufacturing. The name's origins in the Gascon language and its association with notable historical figures have contributed to its enduring legacy and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Cadillac
People
Cadillac + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cadillac as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cadillac: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cadillac?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cadillac going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Cadillac a common name?
We classify Cadillac as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cadillac most popular?
The single biggest year for Cadillac was 2010, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cadillac is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cadillac a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cadillac in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.