Caeli
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "heavenly" or "of the sky".
Name Census estimates that about 1,147 living Americans carry the first name Caeli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caeli today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caeli births was 2023 (148 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caeli. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Caeli with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Caeli is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 298,827 Americans
Peak year
2023
148 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,660
Tracked since 1974
Census
Caeli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 652 people with the first name Caeli, which placed it at #17,077 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,077
National first-name rank
People counted
652
652 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caeli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caeli is White at 59.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.7%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Caeli described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Caeli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.4% · 387
- Hispanic or Latino22.7% · 148
- Two or more races6.9% · 45
- Black or African American6.6% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Caeli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caeli from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 461 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caeli 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 Caeli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caelis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Caeli, while New Jersey, Illinois, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caeli
The name Caeli is derived from the Latin word "caelum," meaning "heaven" or "sky." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Roman culture, where it was likely used as a name to honor celestial deities or to express a connection with the heavens.
In ancient Roman mythology, Caelus was the primordial god of the sky, and his name was often invoked in religious rituals and ceremonies. The name may have been given to children as a way to seek divine protection or to symbolize a connection with the celestial realm.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Caeli can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who lived from 59 BC to 17 AD. He mentioned a nobleman named Caeli Vibenna, who was said to have assisted the legendary founder of Rome, Romulus, in establishing the city.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Caeli. One example is Caeli Calcagnini (1479-1541), an Italian humanist scholar and poet who was renowned for his works on astronomy and mathematics. Another is Caeli Secundi Curionis (1503-1569), a Swiss Protestant reformer and theologian who played a significant role in the Reformation movement.
In the 17th century, Caeli Firmiani (1622-1687) was an Italian painter and engraver who achieved fame for his religious artworks and portraits. Caeli Piccolomini (1659-1681), on the other hand, was an Italian noblewoman and writer who is remembered for her contributions to the literary salons of her time.
One of the most recent historical figures with the name Caeli is Caeli Quinn (1896-1976), an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway productions and films during the early 20th century.
While the name Caeli has been relatively uncommon throughout history, its celestial connotations and associations with ancient Roman culture have contributed to its enduring presence in various societies and time periods.
People
Caeli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caeli 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
Caeli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caeli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,147 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caeli 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 298,827 US residents.
Is Caeli a common name?
We classify Caeli as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,161 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caeli most popular?
The single biggest year for Caeli was 2023, when 148 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caeli is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Caeli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 652 people with the name Caeli, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,077 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Caeli in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Caeli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Caeli leans strongly female. 642 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 12 male bearers (1.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Caeli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caeli is White at 59.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.7%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Caeli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Caeli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.4% (387 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Caeli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caeli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caeli in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Caeli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caeli in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Caeli can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Caeli?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.