Caedmon
An English masculine name meaning "battle valley".
Name Census estimates that about 917 living Americans carry the first name Caedmon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Caedmon today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caedmon births was 2010 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caedmon. 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.
People living today
917
~ 1 in 373,778 Americans
Peak year
2010
79 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,089
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Caedmon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caedmon from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 457 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caedmon 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 Caedmon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caedmons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, California, Indiana recorded the most babies named Caedmon, while Washington, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caedmon
The given name Caedmon is an Old English name originating in the 7th century. It is derived from the Old English words "cædere" meaning "brawler" or "violent one," and "mon" meaning "man." The name was likely used to refer to a warrior or someone with a fierce temperament.
Caedmon is most notably associated with Cædmon, an illiterate cow herder who lived in the 7th century and is considered one of the earliest known English poets. According to the Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Caedmon was miraculously gifted with the ability to compose poetry after receiving a dream from God. His work is one of the earliest examples of Old English literature.
The name Caedmon does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures outside of the account given by Bede. However, it is a name that has been used throughout history, particularly in English-speaking cultures.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Caedmon is from the 7th century with the aforementioned poet Caedmon (c. 657 – c. 680). Another notable individual with this name was Caedmon Rhoades Rawlins (1884 – 1931), an American painter and illustrator known for his works depicting Native American life and the American West.
Other notable individuals named Caedmon include:
1. Caedmon Gieryn (1888 – 1948), a Polish-born American artist and sculptor.
2. Caedmon Avery Horsley (1916 – 1995), an American academic and author.
3. Caedmon Metcalf (1917 – 1997), an American baseball player who played for the Boston Red Sox.
4. Caedmon Richey (1923 – 2011), an American sculptor and educator.
5. Caedmon Rowland (born 1968), a Canadian actor and voice artist.
While the name Caedmon is relatively uncommon today, it has a rich history rooted in the earliest days of English literature and has been carried by individuals across various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Caedmon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caedmon 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
Caedmon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caedmon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 917 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caedmon 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 373,778 US residents.
Is Caedmon a common name?
We classify Caedmon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 926 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caedmon most popular?
The single biggest year for Caedmon was 2010, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caedmon is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Caedmon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caedmon 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.