Canyon
A masculine name referring to a deep gorge or ravine.
Name Census estimates that about 3,921 living Americans carry the first name Canyon. It is a predominantly male name (93.7% of registrations). The average person named Canyon today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Canyon births was 2021 (184 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Canyon. 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
- • Canyon is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.9K
~ 1 in 87,415 Americans
Peak year
2021
184 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,433
Tracked since 1972
Census
Canyon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,998 people with the first name Canyon, which placed it at #5,640 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
#5,640
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,998 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Canyon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Canyon is White at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Canyon 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 Canyon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.9% · 2,424
- Two or more races7.1% · 212
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 208
- Black or African American2.3% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 60
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 26
Gender
Gender distribution for Canyon
Canyon leans heavily male at 93.7% of total registrations, but 250 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Canyon as a male name
- Ranked #1,433 in 2024
- 126 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (167 births)
Canyon as a female name
- Ranked #12,372 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Canyon leans strongly male. 2,788 people counted with this name were male (92.9%), compared with 214 female bearers (7.1%).
Popularity
Canyon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Canyon from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,383 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Canyon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Canyon 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 Canyon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Canyons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Texas, Utah, California recorded the most babies named Canyon, while Nevada, Kansas, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 81 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Canyon
The name Canyon is a relatively modern word derived from the Spanish cañon, which itself comes from the Latin canna, meaning "reed" or "cane." The word originally referred to a deep, narrow valley with steep sides, often formed by erosion from a river or stream.
Canyon first emerged as a given name in the late 19th century, likely inspired by the natural wonders of the American West and the grandeur of places like the Grand Canyon. It may have been used as a way to celebrate the rugged beauty of these geological formations or as a nod to the pioneering spirit of those who explored and settled the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Canyon as a first name is Canyon Lester, born in 1888 in Texas. Another early example is Canyon Wren, born in 1892 in Colorado. These individuals were likely named during a time when the American frontier was still being explored and the imagery of the West was capturing the popular imagination.
Throughout the 20th century, Canyon remained a relatively uncommon name, but it did gain some notable bearers. Canyon Sam, a Native American artist and activist, was born in 1917 in Arizona. Canyon de Chelly, a Navajo artist and educator, was born in 1935 in Arizona, and her name was derived from the famous Canyon de Chelly National Monument.
In more recent times, Canyon has been used as a gender-neutral name, reflecting a growing trend toward nature-inspired names and a desire for names that evoke a sense of adventure and exploration. Canyon Cody Zuehlsdorff, an American actor, was born in 1998, while Canyon James, an American singer and songwriter, was born in 1993.
Overall, the name Canyon is a relatively modern creation, likely born out of a fascination with the natural wonders of the American West and a celebration of the rugged landscapes that were being explored and settled during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While not a common name, it has gained a small but notable following, particularly among those who appreciate its unique sound and connection to the natural world.
People
Canyon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Canyon 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
Canyon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Canyon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,921 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Canyon 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 87,415 US residents.
Is Canyon a common name?
We classify Canyon as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,969 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Canyon most popular?
The single biggest year for Canyon was 2021, when 184 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Canyon is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Canyon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,998 people with the name Canyon, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,640 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 Canyon 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 Canyon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Canyon leans strongly male. 2,788 people counted with this name were male (92.9%), compared with 214 female bearers (7.1%). 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 Canyon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Canyon is White at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Canyon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Canyon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.9% (2,424 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 Canyon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Canyon a male name?
Yes, 93.7% of people registered as Canyon 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 Canyon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Canyon 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 Canyon 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 Americans are named Canyon?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.