Cardiff
A place name of Welsh origin, meaning "fort on the river Taff".
Name Census estimates that about 13 living Americans carry the first name Cardiff. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cardiff today is around 3 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cardiff births was 2022 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cardiff. 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 Cardiff. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
13
~ 1 in 26,365,718 Americans
Peak year
2022
8 babies that year
Average age
3
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,603
Tracked since 2022
Popularity
Cardiff: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Cardiff 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 Cardiff during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 13 | 0 | 13 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Cardiff
Cardiff is a place name that originated in Wales, derived from the Welsh words "caer" meaning fort and "dyf" meaning river. The name refers to the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales, located on the River Taff. The earliest recorded use of the name Cardiff dates back to the 11th century, when it was written as "Kairdyf" in the Domesday Book of 1086.
While the name Cardiff is primarily associated with the Welsh city, it has been adopted as a given name, particularly in English-speaking countries. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Cardiff was Cardiff Rees, a Welsh soldier who fought in the English Civil War in the 17th century.
In the 19th century, the name Cardiff gained some popularity, likely influenced by the growing prominence of the Welsh city as an industrial and maritime center. One notable bearer of the name was Cardiff Giant, a famous hoax perpetrated in 1869 involving the alleged discovery of a petrified giant in Cardiff, New York.
Another prominent figure named Cardiff was Sir Cardiff Bayly, a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1866 and played a significant role in the development of naval gunnery.
In the 20th century, the name Cardiff was occasionally used, albeit rarely. One example is Cardiff Hall, an English actor and playwright born in 1911, who was known for his work in theater and television.
More recently, the name Cardiff has been used as a given name, though it remains relatively uncommon. One notable bearer is Cardiff Garcia, an American journalist and economist born in the late 20th century, who has written for publications such as the Financial Times and The Economist.
Overall, the name Cardiff has its roots in Welsh history and geography, with its earliest recorded uses dating back to the 11th century. While not a widely popular given name, it has been adopted by individuals throughout history, often with connections to Wales or the maritime and industrial heritage of the city of Cardiff.
People
Cardiff + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cardiff 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
Cardiff: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cardiff?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cardiff 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 26,365,718 US residents.
Is Cardiff a common name?
We classify Cardiff as "Very Rare". It ranks above 33.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cardiff most popular?
The single biggest year for Cardiff was 2022, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cardiff is about 3 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Cardiff in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cardiff a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cardiff 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 Cardiff still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cardiff 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 Cardiff 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Cardiff?
You can see how many people share the name Cardiff on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.