Caia
A feminine name of Latin origin referring to the mythological goddess of fire.
Name Census estimates that about 1,127 living Americans carry the first name Caia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caia today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caia births was 2023 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caia. 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 Caia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Caia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 304,130 Americans
Peak year
2023
89 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,131
Tracked since 1979
Census
Caia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 757 people with the first name Caia, which placed it at #15,253 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
#15,253
National first-name rank
People counted
757
757 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caia is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Two or More Races (15.3%). 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 Caia 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 Caia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 358
- Black or African American17.8% · 135
- Two or more races15.3% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino12.8% · 97
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 8
Popularity
Caia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caia from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 542 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Caia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caia 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 Caia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Caia, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caia
The name Caia has its roots in ancient Rome, where it was derived from the Latin word "gaudium," meaning "joy" or "rejoice." It was a popular name among Roman families during the height of the Roman Empire, particularly from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Caia can be found in ancient Roman inscriptions and historical records. A notable example is Caia Afrania, a Roman woman who lived during the 1st century BC and was known for her philanthropy and involvement in public affairs.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Caia gained additional significance. It was borne by Saint Caia, a 3rd-century martyr who was executed for her Christian beliefs during the persecution under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the name Caia continued to be used, although its popularity waxed and waned in different regions. In medieval times, it was particularly common in parts of Italy and Spain.
One notable figure from this period was Caia di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (1456-1487), a member of the influential Medici family in Florence, Italy. She was the daughter of Pierfrancesco de' Medici and was known for her beauty and patronage of the arts.
During the Renaissance, the name Caia was embraced by several prominent Italian families, including the Borgias and the Sforzas. Caia Sforza (1465-1539) was an Italian noblewoman and the Countess of Santa Fiora, known for her influential role in the political affairs of her time.
In the 17th century, the name gained popularity in England, where it was sometimes spelled as "Caia" or "Kaya." One notable bearer was Caia Shaa (1603-1680), an English writer and translator who was among the first women to publish literary works in English.
Another significant figure was Caia Amatuzzi (1701-1787), an Italian painter and engraver who was active in Rome during the 18th century. She was known for her portraiture and religious works, and her art can be found in various churches and collections throughout Italy.
While the name Caia has become less common in modern times, it has left a lasting legacy across different cultures and time periods, reflecting its rich history and associations with joy, resilience, and artistic expression.
People
Caia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caia 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
Caia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,127 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caia 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 304,130 US residents.
Is Caia a common name?
We classify Caia as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,136 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caia most popular?
The single biggest year for Caia was 2023, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caia is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Caia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 757 people with the name Caia, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,253 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 Caia 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 Caia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Caia appears almost entirely female. Of the 759 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Caia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caia is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Two or More Races (15.3%). 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 Caia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Caia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (358 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 Caia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caia 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 Caia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caia 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 Caia 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 many people have the name Caia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.