Caitlain
A feminine name of Irish origin meaning "mighty" or "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Caitlain. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caitlain today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caitlain births was 1990 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caitlain. 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 Caitlain with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Caitlain. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1990
10 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2003 SSA rank
#16,205
Tracked since 1986
Census
Caitlain in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 121 people with the first name Caitlain, which placed it at #50,149 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
#50,149
National first-name rank
People counted
121
121 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caitlain
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caitlain is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Black (3.3%). 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 Caitlain 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 Caitlain at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 106
- Two or more races5.0% · 6
- Black or African American3.3% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Popularity
Caitlain: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caitlain from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 51 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Caitlain remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caitlain 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 Caitlain 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 Caitlain
The name Caitlain is derived from the Irish Caitlín, which is a diminutive form of the Gaelic name Caitríona. Caitríona is believed to have originated from the Greek name Catarina, which means "pure" or "clear."
The name Caitlain first appeared in Ireland during the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century. It was a popular name among Irish families, particularly those with strong cultural roots and ties to the Gaelic language and traditions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Caitlain can be found in the Book of Leinster, a medieval Irish manuscript dating back to the 12th century. In this manuscript, the name appears in various spellings, including Caitlín, Caitlíne, and Caitlaine.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Caitlain. One of the earliest examples is Caitlain Ní Mhaonaigh, an Irish noblewoman and poet who lived in the 16th century. Another prominent figure was Caitlain Ní Dhubhda, a renowned Irish harpist and composer from the 17th century.
In the 18th century, Caitlain Ní Uallacháin was a celebrated Irish musician and singer who contributed significantly to the preservation of traditional Irish music and songs. Another notable Caitlain from this period was Caitlain Ní Chualáin, a renowned Irish scholar and teacher.
Moving into the 19th century, Caitlain Ní Shúilleabháin (1798-1874) was an Irish folklore collector and author who played a vital role in preserving and documenting Irish oral traditions and storytelling.
While the name Caitlain has its roots in Ireland, it has gained popularity in other parts of the world as well. Over the centuries, variations of the name, such as Caitlin, Katelyn, and Kaitlyn, have emerged and found their way into different cultures and languages.
People
Caitlain + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caitlain 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
Caitlain: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caitlain?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caitlain 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Caitlain a common name?
We classify Caitlain as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 84 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caitlain most popular?
The single biggest year for Caitlain was 1990, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caitlain is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Caitlain in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 121 people with the name Caitlain, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,149 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 Caitlain 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 Caitlain?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Caitlain appears almost entirely female. Of the 126 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Caitlain?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caitlain is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Black (3.3%). 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 Caitlain most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Caitlain in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (106 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 Caitlain in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caitlain a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caitlain 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 Caitlain still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caitlain 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 Caitlain 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 are named Caitlain?
Want to know how many Americans are named Caitlain? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.