Camillus
Latin masculine name likely derived from a root meaning "minister" or "youth assistant".
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Camillus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Camillus today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Camillus births was 1915 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Camillus. 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
- • The typical person named Camillus is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Camillus' were born before 1958.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Camillus. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1915
8 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1963 SSA rank
#4,118
Tracked since 1915
Census
Camillus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 132 people with the first name Camillus, which placed it at #48,390 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
#48,390
National first-name rank
People counted
132
132 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Camillus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Camillus is White at 50.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.1%). 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 Camillus 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 Camillus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.8% · 67
- Black or African American32.6% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 4
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Popularity
Camillus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Camillus from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 18 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Camillus 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 Camillus 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 Camillus
The given name Camillus has its origins in the ancient Roman culture. It is derived from the Latin word "camillus," which referred to a young boy who assisted priests in religious ceremonies. The name likely emerged during the Roman Republic period, around the 5th century BC.
Camillus was a prestigious Roman surname borne by several notable figures, including Marcus Furius Camillus, a Roman soldier and statesman who lived from around 446 BC to 365 BC. He played a crucial role in defending Rome against the Gauls and is celebrated for his military victories and leadership.
Another famous bearer of the name was Lucius Furius Camillus, a Roman consul who lived in the 4th century BC. He was known for his military achievements and was honored with a triumph for his victories over the Gauls.
In the early Christian era, the name Camillus gained religious significance. Saint Camillus de Lellis, born in 1550 and died in 1614, was an Italian priest and the founder of the Order of Clerks Regular Ministers to the Sick, also known as the Camillians. He dedicated his life to caring for the sick and is revered as the patron saint of nurses and the sick.
During the Renaissance period, the name Camillus was popularized by the humanist scholar and writer Camillo Porzio, who lived from 1504 to 1580. He was an Italian historian and philosopher, known for his work on moral philosophy and political theory.
Another notable figure with the name Camillus was Camille Desmoulins, a French revolutionary who lived from 1760 to 1794. He played a significant role in the early stages of the French Revolution and was a prominent orator and journalist during that time.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who bore the name Camillus, showcasing its enduring presence across different eras and cultures, from ancient Rome to the Renaissance and beyond.
People
Camillus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Camillus 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
Camillus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Camillus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Camillus 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Camillus a common name?
We classify Camillus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Camillus most popular?
The single biggest year for Camillus was 1915, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Camillus is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Camillus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 132 people with the name Camillus, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,390 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 Camillus 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 Camillus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Camillus leans strongly male. 107 people counted with this name were male (84.3%), compared with 20 female bearers (15.7%). 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 Camillus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Camillus is White at 50.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.1%). 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 Camillus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Camillus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.8% (67 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 Camillus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Camillus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Camillus 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.
Is Camillus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Camillus 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 Camillus 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 Camillus?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.