Care
A virtue name derived from the Latin word "caritas" meaning love, charity, affection.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Care. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Care today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Care births was 1927 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Care. 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 Care. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1927
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1927 SSA rank
#4,288
Tracked since 1927
Census
Care in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 279 people with the first name Care, which placed it at #30,942 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
#30,942
National first-name rank
People counted
279
279 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Care
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Care is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.5%). 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 Care 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 Care at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.2% · 168
- Black or African American14.3% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.5% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 26
- Two or more races3.6% · 10
Popularity
Care: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Care 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 Care during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Care
The name Care is derived from the Latin word "carus," which means "dear" or "beloved." It has its roots in ancient Roman culture and can be traced back to the early centuries of the common era.
Care was initially a masculine name, but over time, it also became associated with females. In the Middle Ages, the name gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Roman influence, such as Italy, Spain, and France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Care can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, who mentioned a Roman soldier named Carus in his work "Annals" (circa 109 AD). In the 3rd century AD, there was a Roman Emperor named Marcus Aurelius Carus, who ruled from 282 to 283 AD.
During the Renaissance period, the name Care gained further prominence. One notable figure was Care da Fabriano (c. 1285-c. 1363), an Italian painter and manuscript illuminator known for his contributions to the development of the International Gothic style.
In the religious sphere, there was Saint Care (or Caro) of Braganza (1538-1594), a Portuguese Roman Catholic nun and mystic who founded the Carmelite Order of the Barefoot Nuns. She was canonized in 1807 by Pope Pius VII.
Another prominent individual bearing the name Care was Care Maria Leopoldo (1736-1799), an Italian composer and violinist who was a significant figure in the Classical period of music.
In the literary world, Care Capponi (1805-1876) was an Italian writer and poet who was part of the Risorgimento movement, which aimed to unify Italy.
It is worth noting that while the name Care has its roots in ancient Rome and has been used across various cultures throughout history, it has not been as widely popular as some other names in modern times.
People
Care + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Care 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
Care: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Care?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Care 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 - US residents.
Is Care a common name?
We classify Care as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Care most popular?
The single biggest year for Care was 1927, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Care is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Care in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 279 people with the name Care, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,942 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 Care 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 Care?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Care on both sides of the split. Of the 282 people counted with this name, 81 were male (28.7%) and 201 were female (71.3%). 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 Care?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Care is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.5%). 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 Care most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Care in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.2% (168 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 Care in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Care a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Care 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 Care still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Care 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 Care 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 Care?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Care, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.