Cailie
Anglicized form of Scottish Caelie, feminine pet form of Gaelic Calum meaning "dove".
Name Census estimates that about 215 living Americans carry the first name Cailie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cailie today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cailie births was 2003 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cailie. 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
215
~ 1 in 1,594,206 Americans
Peak year
2003
17 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2018 SSA rank
#16,134
Tracked since 1990
Popularity
Cailie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cailie from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 93 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Cailie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cailie 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 Cailie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cailie
The name Cailie is believed to have originated from the Scottish Gaelic language, with its roots traced back to the medieval period in Scotland. It is derived from the Gaelic word "cailleach," which means "old woman" or "nun." The name was traditionally associated with wisdom, reverence, and devotion.
In ancient Celtic mythology, the Cailleach was a powerful and respected figure, often depicted as a crone or a veiled woman carrying a staff. She was associated with the changing seasons, particularly the transition from winter to spring, and was revered as a symbol of renewal and rebirth.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cailie can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a medieval Irish chronicle dating back to the 15th century. It mentions a woman named "Cailleach Bérre" who was believed to be a powerful druidess or wise woman.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cailie or its variations. One such figure was Cailie MacPherson (1792-1867), a Scottish poet and storyteller from the Highlands, renowned for her preservation of traditional Gaelic folklore and ballads.
Another prominent figure was Cailie Douglas (1837-1912), a Scottish-American educator and philanthropist who established several schools and educational institutions in the United States, promoting education for women and underprivileged communities.
In the realm of literature, Cailie Graham (1891-1971) was a Scottish novelist and short story writer, known for her vivid depictions of rural life in the Scottish Highlands and her exploration of themes related to love, loss, and the human condition.
The name Cailie also gained recognition in the field of art through Cailie Fergusson (1928-2009), a Canadian painter and printmaker celebrated for her abstract expressionist works and her contributions to the Vancouver art scene.
Another notable figure was Cailie MacLeod (1922-2003), a Scottish singer and composer who played a significant role in preserving and promoting traditional Scottish music, particularly the Gaelic song tradition of the Hebrides Islands.
While the name Cailie has deep roots in Scottish and Celtic culture, it has since gained popularity and recognition across various regions and communities, embraced for its historical significance and connection to wisdom, reverence, and the natural world.
People
Cailie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cailie 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
Cailie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cailie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 215 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cailie 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 1,594,206 US residents.
Is Cailie a common name?
We classify Cailie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cailie most popular?
The single biggest year for Cailie was 2003, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cailie is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cailie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cailie 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.
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.