Cashel
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "rock" or "stone fortress".
Name Census estimates that about 459 living Americans carry the first name Cashel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cashel today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cashel births was 2020 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cashel. 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.
People living today
459
~ 1 in 746,741 Americans
Peak year
2020
48 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,696
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Cashel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cashel from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 213 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
Cashel 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 Cashel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cashels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Florida recorded the most babies named Cashel, while New York, Minnesota, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cashel
The name Cashel has its origins in the Irish language and culture. It is derived from the old Irish word "caiseal", meaning a stone fort or circular stone ring fort. These structures were common in ancient Ireland and served as defensive fortifications and settlements.
Cashel is also the name of a town in County Tipperary, Ireland, which takes its name from the famous Rock of Cashel, an impressive group of medieval buildings and fortified structures located on a prominent limestone outcrop. The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster and is one of Ireland's most visited historical sites.
The name Cashel is found in several ancient Irish texts and manuscripts, including the Annals of the Four Masters, which record the history of Ireland from the earliest times. In these texts, Cashel is often mentioned in connection with important events and figures in Irish history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cashel is from the 5th century AD, when it was the name of a king of Munster. Another notable early bearer of the name was Cormac mac Cuilennáin, the King of Munster and Bishop of Cashel, who lived in the 9th century AD and is known for his contributions to Irish literature and scholarship.
Over the centuries, several individuals have borne the name Cashel, including:
1. Cashel Hollywell (c. 1690 - c. 1738), an English dramatist and playwright.
2. Cashel Hoey (1828 - 1898), an Irish novelist and journalist.
3. Cashel Moylan (1737 - 1815), an Irish-American Catholic bishop and educator.
4. Cashel Buckingham (1796 - 1871), an English diplomat and politician.
5. Cashel Boyd (1801 - 1872), an Irish-American lawyer and politician.
While the name Cashel is primarily associated with Irish culture and history, it has also been adopted by individuals from other backgrounds, likely drawn to its unique sound and connection to ancient Irish heritage.
People
Cashel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cashel 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
Cashel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cashel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 459 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cashel 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 746,741 US residents.
Is Cashel a common name?
We classify Cashel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 462 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cashel most popular?
The single biggest year for Cashel was 2020, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cashel is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cashel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cashel 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.
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.