Cary
From the English surname referring to a type of pasture land.
Name Census estimates that about 22,753 living Americans carry the first name Cary. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Cary today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cary births was 1959 (906 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cary. 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 Cary with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
23K
~ 1 in 15,064 Americans
Peak year
1959
906 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,607
Tracked since 1880
Census
Cary in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 22,897 people with the first name Cary, which placed it at #1,470 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
#1,470
National first-name rank
People counted
23K
22,897 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cary
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cary is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Cary 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 Cary at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.0% · 18,997
- Black or African American6.7% · 1,523
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 841
- Two or more races3.0% · 692
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 687
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 157
Gender
Gender distribution for Cary
Cary leans heavily male at 82.1% of total registrations, but 5,323 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cary as a male name
- Ranked #3,607 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (788 births)
Cary as a female name
- Ranked #15,688 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (204 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cary on both sides of the split. Of the 22,895 people counted with this name, 18,075 were male (78.9%) and 4,820 were female (21.1%).
Popularity
Cary: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cary from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 8,100 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cary 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 Cary during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Cary, while New Hampshire, Montana, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 469 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cary
The name Cary has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "caru," which means "free man" or "peasant." It was a common name among the Anglo-Saxon population in England during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. It lists several individuals with the name Cary, indicating its widespread use at that time.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Cary de Muneken was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, a record of financial accounts. This suggests that the name was not only present but also associated with people of some prominence.
During the Renaissance, the name Cary gained popularity among the English nobility. One famous bearer was Sir Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland (1575-1633), a prominent statesman and writer who played a significant role in the English Civil War.
Another notable individual was Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland (1610-1643), a Royalist officer who fought and died during the Battle of Newbury in the English Civil War. He was known for his intellectual pursuits and was a patron of scholars and writers.
In the 18th century, Robert Cary (1615-1688) was a prominent English writer and theologian who published several works on religious topics. He served as the Rector of Portlemouth in Devon and was highly regarded for his scholarly contributions.
Moving into the 19th century, Annie Louise Cary (1842-1921) was an American opera singer renowned for her performances in Europe and the United States. She was particularly celebrated for her roles in operas by composers like Gounod and Verdi.
Throughout its history, the name Cary has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including nobility, military leaders, scholars, and artists. While its origins can be traced back to Old English, it has maintained a presence across different eras and cultures, reflecting its enduring appeal.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Cary
People
Cary + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cary 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
Cary: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cary?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22,753 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cary 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 15,064 US residents.
Is Cary a common name?
We classify Cary as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29,795 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cary most popular?
The single biggest year for Cary was 1959, when 906 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cary is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cary in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 22,897 people with the name Cary, or 7.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,470 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 Cary 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 Cary?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cary on both sides of the split. Of the 22,895 people counted with this name, 18,075 were male (78.9%) and 4,820 were female (21.1%). 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 Cary?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cary is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Cary most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cary in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.0% (18,997 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 Cary in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cary a male name?
Yes, 82.1% of people registered as Cary 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 Cary still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cary 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 Cary 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 called Cary?
You can see how many Americans are named Cary on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.