Cannie
A Scottish feminine diminutive of "Candida" meaning "fair", "bright", or "white".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Cannie. It is a predominantly female name (97.8% of registrations). The average person named Cannie today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cannie births was 1893 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cannie. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cannie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1893
11 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1918 SSA rank
#4,265
Tracked since 1888
Census
Cannie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 129 people with the first name Cannie, which placed it at #48,862 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
#48,862
National first-name rank
People counted
129
129 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cannie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cannie is White at 43.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.0%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Cannie 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 Cannie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.4% · 56
- Black or African American31.0% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.9% · 14
- Two or more races3.1% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Cannie
Cannie leans heavily female at 97.8% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cannie as a male name
- Ranked #4,265 in 1918
- 5 male births in 1918
- Peak: 1918 (5 births)
Cannie as a female name
- Ranked #10,712 in 1982
- 5 female births in 1982
- Peak: 1893 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cannie on both sides of the split. Of the 127 people counted with this name, 32 were male (25.2%) and 95 were female (74.8%).
Popularity
Cannie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cannie from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 57 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cannie 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 Cannie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cannies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cannie
The name Cannie is believed to have its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, derived from the word "ceannan" which means "kind" or "gentle." It is a diminutive form of the name Canna, which is also a Scottish name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cannie dates back to the 16th century in Scotland, where it was primarily used as a nickname or a term of endearment. It was often given to children who displayed a gentle and affectionate nature.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Cannie was Cannie Macdonald, a Scottish woman who lived in the late 16th century. She is mentioned in historical records as a midwife and healer in the Highlands of Scotland.
In the 17th century, the name Cannie appears in several Scottish literary works, including the poetry of Robert Burns. Burns used the name to describe a kind-hearted and gentle character in his poem "The Twa Dogs."
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Cannie was relatively uncommon but still used occasionally in Scotland and parts of Northern England. One notable bearer of the name was Cannie Mackenzie (1792-1878), a Scottish entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded several schools and charitable organizations in her hometown of Inverness.
Another prominent figure with the name Cannie was Cannie Shand (1857-1932), a Scottish suffragette and women's rights activist. She was a leading figure in the campaign for women's suffrage in Scotland and was arrested several times for her involvement in protests and demonstrations.
In the 20th century, the name Cannie saw a slight resurgence in popularity, particularly in Scotland and among Scottish diaspora communities around the world. Cannie Millar (1914-2001), a Scottish actress and singer, was known for her performances on stage and screen.
While the name Cannie is still relatively uncommon, it continues to be used occasionally in Scotland and other parts of the UK, often as a way to honor Scottish heritage and traditions.
People
Cannie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cannie 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
Cannie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cannie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cannie 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Cannie a common name?
We classify Cannie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 230 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cannie most popular?
The single biggest year for Cannie was 1893, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cannie is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cannie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 129 people with the name Cannie, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,862 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 Cannie 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 Cannie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cannie on both sides of the split. Of the 127 people counted with this name, 32 were male (25.2%) and 95 were female (74.8%). 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 Cannie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cannie is White at 43.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.0%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Cannie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cannie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.4% (56 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 Cannie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cannie a female name?
Yes, 97.8% of people registered as Cannie 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 Cannie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cannie 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 Cannie 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 Cannie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.