Caoimhe
A feminine Irish name meaning beautiful, graceful, or precious.
Name Census estimates that about 327 living Americans carry the first name Caoimhe. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caoimhe today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caoimhe births was 2007 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caoimhe. 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 Caoimhe with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
327
~ 1 in 1,048,178 Americans
Peak year
2007
19 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,519
Tracked since 1996
Census
Caoimhe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 283 people with the first name Caoimhe, which placed it at #30,644 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
#30,644
National first-name rank
People counted
283
283 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caoimhe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caoimhe is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Caoimhe 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 Caoimhe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 234
- Two or more races8.1% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 11
- Black or African American3.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 5
Popularity
Caoimhe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caoimhe from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 146 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Caoimhe remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caoimhe 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 Caoimhe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caoimhes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Caoimhe
The name Caoimhe is of Irish Gaelic origin and is a feminine given name derived from the Old Irish word "cáem," meaning beautiful or lovely. It is pronounced similarly to "Keeva" or "Kwee-va."
The earliest recorded use of the name Caoimhe dates back to medieval Ireland, where it was often bestowed upon newborn girls as a reflection of the high regard for beauty and grace in Irish culture. The name's popularity grew during the Gaelic Revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period marked by a renewed interest in preserving and promoting Irish language, literature, and heritage.
While the name Caoimhe does not appear prominently in ancient Irish texts or religious scriptures, it has been embraced by many notable figures throughout history. One of the earliest notable individuals named Caoimhe was Caoimhe Ní Chonalláin, a renowned Irish poet and harpist who lived in the 17th century and was celebrated for her lyrical compositions and performances at the courts of Irish chieftains.
In the 19th century, Caoimhe Ní Chuinneagáin was a prominent Irish language activist and educator who played a crucial role in establishing the first Irish language primary school in Dublin. Her efforts contributed significantly to the preservation and promotion of the Irish language during a time when it faced suppression and decline.
Another notable figure named Caoimhe was Caoimhe de Barra, a talented Irish actress and singer who gained recognition in the mid-20th century for her performances in various stage productions and films. Her portrayal of Irish characters helped bring Irish culture and traditions to a wider audience.
In more recent times, Caoimhe Herlihy, born in 1964, is an accomplished Irish novelist and short story writer whose works often explore themes of identity, family, and the complexities of modern Irish life. Her debut novel, "One Little Lie," was critically acclaimed and solidified her reputation as a rising literary voice in Ireland.
Caoimhe Bambrick, born in 1976, is an Irish businesswoman and entrepreneur who co-founded the successful technology company Trustev, which specialized in online identity verification and fraud prevention. Her innovative contributions to the tech industry have earned her numerous accolades and recognition as a leader in her field.
People
Caoimhe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caoimhe 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
Caoimhe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caoimhe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 327 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caoimhe 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 1,048,178 US residents.
Is Caoimhe a common name?
We classify Caoimhe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caoimhe most popular?
The single biggest year for Caoimhe was 2007, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caoimhe is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Caoimhe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 283 people with the name Caoimhe, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,644 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 Caoimhe 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 Caoimhe?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Caoimhe leans strongly female. 286 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Caoimhe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caoimhe is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Caoimhe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Caoimhe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (234 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 Caoimhe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caoimhe a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caoimhe 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 Caoimhe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caoimhe 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 Caoimhe 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 share the name Caoimhe?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.