Cas
A masculine name of Norse origin meaning "prosperous."
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Cas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cas today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cas births was 2020 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cas. 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 Cas with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
2020
13 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,829
Tracked since 1881
Census
Cas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 463 people with the first name Cas, which placed it at #21,790 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
#21,790
National first-name rank
People counted
463
463 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cas is White at 65.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.4%) and Black (11.7%). 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 Cas 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 Cas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.2% · 302
- Hispanic or Latino13.4% · 62
- Black or African American11.7% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 23
- Two or more races3.7% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 5
Popularity
Cas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cas from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 51 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cas 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 Cas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cas
The name Cas has its origins in the Latin language and is derived from the ancient Roman name Cassius. The name Cassius itself is believed to have come from the word "cassus," which means "empty" or "hollow." This could be a reference to the physical appearance of a person or perhaps to their character.
Cassius was a prominent Roman family name during the Roman Republic and Empire periods. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Gaius Cassius Longinus, a Roman senator and a leading instigator of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. He was a key figure in the events that led to the end of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.
Another notable figure in history who bore the name Cassius was Avidius Cassius, a Roman general and usurper who briefly ruled parts of the Roman Empire during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the late 2nd century AD.
The name Cas, as a shortened version of Cassius, emerged in the Middle Ages and was used across various European regions. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Cas can be found in the 13th century, when a Cas de Marvilla was mentioned in records from Lincolnshire, England.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the first name Cas. One such person was Cas Anvar (1971 - present), a Canadian actor best known for his roles in television series like "The Expanse" and "Olympus."
Another famous bearer of the name was Cas Holloway (1899 - 1923), a Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Toronto St. Patricks and the Hamilton Tigers in the early days of the National Hockey League.
In the world of music, Cas Haley (1935 - 2015) was a American singer and songwriter who co-wrote several popular songs, including "Neon Rainbow" and "Walk On Boy."
Cas Mustad (1858 - 1953) was a Norwegian industrialist and inventor who founded the Mustad fishhook company, which became one of the largest producers of fishing hooks in the world.
Lastly, Cas Walker (1892 - 1960) was a British football player who played as a forward for various clubs, including Sheffield United and Chelsea, in the early 20th century.
People
Cas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cas 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
Cas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cas 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Cas a common name?
We classify Cas as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cas most popular?
The single biggest year for Cas was 2020, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cas is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 463 people with the name Cas, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,790 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 Cas 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 Cas?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cas on both sides of the split. Of the 461 people counted with this name, 327 were male (70.9%) and 134 were female (29.1%). 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 Cas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cas is White at 65.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.4%) and Black (11.7%). 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 Cas most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.2% (302 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 Cas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cas 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 Cas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cas 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 Cas 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 Cas?
You can see how many people have the name Cas on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.