Casandra
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "she who entangles men".
Name Census estimates that about 14,661 living Americans carry the first name Casandra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Casandra today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Casandra births was 1990 (642 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Casandra. 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 Casandra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 23,379 Americans
Peak year
1990
642 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1984 SSA rank
#5,048
Tracked since 1940
Census
Casandra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,690 people with the first name Casandra, which placed it at #2,004 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
#2,004
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
13,690 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Casandra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Casandra is White at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.7%) and Black (17.1%). 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 Casandra 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 Casandra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.1% · 6,034
- Hispanic or Latino33.7% · 4,608
- Black or African American17.1% · 2,346
- Two or more races3.4% · 466
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 123
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 113
Gender
Gender distribution for Casandra
Out of the 15,782 babies given the name Casandra since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Casandra as a male name
- Ranked #5,048 in 1984
- 7 male births in 1984
- Peak: 1984 (7 births)
Casandra as a female name
- Ranked #8,522 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (642 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Casandra appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,691 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Casandra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Casandra from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 4,605 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Casandra 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 Casandra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Casandras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Casandra, while New Hampshire, Hawaii, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 277 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Casandra
The name Casandra originated from Ancient Greek, derived from the elements 'kassandra', meaning 'she who entangles men'. It likely emerged around the 8th century BC in the region of Ancient Greece. The name was borne by the mythological princess Cassandra, known for her gift of prophecy and her tragic fate of having her predictions ignored.
Cassandra was a prominent figure in Greek mythology, appearing in various ancient texts, including Homer's Iliad and Aeschylus' Agamemnon. She was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Despite being blessed with the ability to foretell the future, she was cursed by Apollo to never be believed.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 5th century BC, when a Greek woman named Casandra was mentioned in the writings of the historian Herodotus. In ancient Rome, the name was adapted to the Latin form 'Cassandra'.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Casandra or its variations. One of the most famous was Casandra Fedele (1465-1558), an Italian Renaissance scholar and poet, renowned for her erudition and contributions to the humanist movement.
Another prominent figure was Casandra Clemmer (1888-1965), an American actress and dancer who performed on Broadway and in vaudeville shows during the early 20th century.
Casandra Ventura (born 1986), known professionally as Cassie, is a contemporary American singer, model, and actress, known for her hit songs "Me & U" and "Long Way 2 Go".
In literature, Casandra Mortmain is the name of the protagonist in the novel "The Pursuit of Love" by Nancy Mitford, published in 1945.
Casandra Brené Brown (born 1965) is an American research professor, lecturer, and author, known for her groundbreaking work on vulnerability, courage, and shame.
People
Casandra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Casandra 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
Casandra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Casandra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,661 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Casandra 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 23,379 US residents.
Is Casandra a common name?
We classify Casandra as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,782 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Casandra most popular?
The single biggest year for Casandra was 1990, when 642 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Casandra is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Casandra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,690 people with the name Casandra, or 4.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,004 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 Casandra 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 Casandra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Casandra appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,691 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Casandra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Casandra is White at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.7%) and Black (17.1%). 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 Casandra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Casandra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.1% (6,034 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 Casandra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Casandra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Casandra 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 Casandra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Casandra 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 Casandra 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 common is the name Casandra?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Casandra on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.