Cashmere
A Persian name representing a luxurious fabric made from cashmere goats.
Name Census estimates that about 1,280 living Americans carry the first name Cashmere. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 53.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Cashmere today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cashmere births was 2020 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cashmere. 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
- • Cashmere was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • Cashmere sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Cashmere is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 267,777 Americans
Peak year
2020
65 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,950
Tracked since 1920
Census
Cashmere in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 860 people with the first name Cashmere, which placed it at #13,890 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
#13,890
National first-name rank
People counted
860
860 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cashmere
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cashmere is Black at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and White (6.2%). 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 Cashmere 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 Cashmere at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American75.9% · 653
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 77
- White6.2% · 53
- Two or more races5.9% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Cashmere
Cashmere is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,304 total registrations, 613 (47.0%) were male and 691 (53.0%) were female.
Cashmere as a male name
- Ranked #2,950 in 2024
- 42 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (47 births)
Cashmere as a female name
- Ranked #9,028 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1995 (35 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cashmere on both sides of the split. Of the 851 people counted with this name, 351 were male (41.2%) and 500 were female (58.8%).
Popularity
Cashmere: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cashmere from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 427 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cashmere remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cashmere 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 Cashmere during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cashmeres live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Cashmere, while Wisconsin, Texas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cashmere
The given name Cashmere is derived from the word "Kashmir", which is a region located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The region is known for its production of high-quality cashmere wool, which is obtained from the Cashmere goat. The name is believed to have originated in the late 16th or early 17th century, when the cashmere wool trade was flourishing in the region.
In its earliest form, the name was likely spelled as "Kashmiri" or "Kashmiri", referring to someone from the Kashmir region. Over time, the spelling evolved into the more anglicized form of "Cashmere". This name was likely adopted by individuals who were involved in the cashmere wool trade or had connections to the Kashmir region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cashmere can be found in the travel writings of the Italian merchant Francesco Carletti, who visited Kashmir in the early 17th century. He documented the production of cashmere wool and the skilled artisans who worked with it.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Cashmere. One of the earliest was Cashmere Shawl (1790-1860), an Indian textile merchant who played a significant role in popularizing the cashmere shawl in Europe and North America during the 19th century.
Another prominent figure was Cashmere Lal (1870-1945), an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Justice and Education in the Princely State of Kashmir during the early 20th century.
In the world of literature, Cashmere Blanc (1892-1957) was a French poet and novelist known for her vivid descriptions of the Kashmir region in her writings.
Cashmere Rose (1920-2005), an American fashion designer, was renowned for her innovative use of cashmere fabric in her clothing lines, contributing to the popularity of cashmere garments in the mid-20th century.
Lastly, Cashmere Khan (1965-present) is a contemporary British fashion designer who has gained international recognition for his luxurious cashmere collections, blending traditional Kashmiri craftsmanship with modern design elements.
People
Cashmere + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cashmere 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
Cashmere: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cashmere?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cashmere 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 267,777 US residents.
Is Cashmere a common name?
We classify Cashmere as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,304 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cashmere most popular?
The single biggest year for Cashmere was 2020, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cashmere is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cashmere in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 860 people with the name Cashmere, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,890 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 Cashmere 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 Cashmere?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cashmere on both sides of the split. Of the 851 people counted with this name, 351 were male (41.2%) and 500 were female (58.8%). 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 Cashmere?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cashmere is Black at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and White (6.2%). 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 Cashmere most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cashmere in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (653 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 Cashmere in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cashmere a female name?
Yes, 53.0% of people registered as Cashmere 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 Cashmere still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cashmere 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 Cashmere 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 Cashmere as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.