Cairo
An Arabic name meaning "victorious" or "the vanquisher".
Name Census estimates that about 8,924 living Americans carry the first name Cairo. It sits at #355 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (93.9% of registrations). The average person named Cairo today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cairo births was 2022 (1,157 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cairo. 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
- • Cairo is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
8.9K
~ 1 in 38,408 Americans
Peak year
2022
1,157 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#355
Tracked since 1979
Gender
Gender distribution for Cairo
Cairo leans heavily male at 93.9% of total registrations, but 547 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cairo as a male name
- Ranked #355 in 2024
- 944 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (1,101 births)
Cairo as a female name
- Ranked #3,965 in 2024
- 37 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (72 births)
Popularity
Cairo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cairo 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 5,254 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
Cairo 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 Cairo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cairos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Cairo, while Rhode Island, New Mexico, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 186 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cairo
The name Cairo has its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word "al-Qahirah", which means "the Victorious" or "the Conqueror". The name is closely associated with the city of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, which was founded in the 10th century AD.
The name Cairo is believed to have first appeared in historical records around the time of the founding of the city. It was given to the city by its founder, the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, who established his capital there in 969 AD. The name was chosen to reflect the city's strategic location and the Fatimid dynasty's military conquests.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Cairo for a person can be found in the 12th century. Cairo ibn Shuaib, a renowned Arab mathematician and astronomer, lived in the late 12th century and made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and spherical geometry.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Cairo. One of the most famous was Cairo Emanuele, an Italian mathematician and engineer who lived in the 17th century (1639-1715). He was known for his work on hydraulics and was involved in the construction of several important engineering projects in Italy.
Another prominent figure was Cairo Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru in the 16th century (c. 1508-1538). He played a crucial role in the capture and execution of the Inca emperor Atahualpa and was later executed himself for his role in a rebellion against the Spanish crown.
In the 20th century, Cairo Camposano was a Filipino poet and writer who lived from 1909 to 1994. He was known for his contributions to the development of modern Filipino literature and was recognized with several prestigious literary awards.
Cairo Govathov was a Bulgarian wrestler who competed in the 1960s and 1970s. He won a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and was a three-time world champion in his weight class.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Cairo throughout history. While the name has its roots in the Arabic language and the city of Cairo, it has been adopted and used by people of various cultures and backgrounds over the centuries.
People
Cairo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cairo 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
Cairo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cairo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,924 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cairo 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 38,408 US residents.
Is Cairo a common name?
We classify Cairo as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,991 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cairo most popular?
The single biggest year for Cairo was 2022, when 1,157 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cairo is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cairo a male name?
Yes, 93.9% of people registered as Cairo 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.