Cassian
A masculine name of Latin origin meaning "hollow" or "empty".
Name Census estimates that about 2,255 living Americans carry the first name Cassian. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Cassian today is around 5 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cassian births was 2023 (564 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cassian. 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 Cassian with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Cassian is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 5 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 151,997 Americans
Peak year
2023
564 babies that year
Average age
5
years old
2024 SSA rank
#616
Tracked since 1997
Census
Cassian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 654 people with the first name Cassian, which placed it at #17,030 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
#17,030
National first-name rank
People counted
654
654 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cassian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cassian is White at 44.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.0%) and Two or More Races (11.3%). 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 Cassian 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 Cassian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.6% · 292
- Hispanic or Latino26.0% · 170
- Two or more races11.3% · 74
- Black or African American9.9% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 17
Gender
Gender distribution for Cassian
Out of the 2,270 babies given the name Cassian since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Cassian as a male name
- Ranked #616 in 2024
- 462 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (555 births)
Cassian as a female name
- Ranked #10,467 in 2023
- 9 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cassian leans strongly male. 627 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 31 female bearers (4.7%).
Popularity
Cassian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cassian from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,696 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
Cassian 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 Cassian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cassians live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Cassian, while New Mexico, Mississippi, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cassian
The name Cassian originated from the late Latin name Cassianus, which was derived from the Roman family name Cassius. This name has its roots in the Etruscan language and culture, with the word 'cassis' meaning 'helmet'. The name Cassian was popular among early Christians, particularly in the 4th and 5th centuries CE.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Cassian comes from St. John Cassian, a monk and theologian born around 360 CE in the Roman province of Scythia Minor (modern-day Romania). He was an influential figure in the development of Western monasticism and wrote several important works, including the Institutes and the Conferences.
Another notable figure with the name Cassian was Cassian of Imola, an Italian jurist and canonist who lived in the 14th century. He is known for his commentaries on canon law and his work in the field of legal studies.
In the 6th century CE, there was a Bishop of Autun named Cassian, who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He is believed to have played a significant role in the establishment of Christianity in the region of Burgundy, France.
The name Cassian also appears in the writings of St. Gregory of Tours, a Gallo-Roman historian and bishop from the 6th century CE. He mentions a monk named Cassian who lived in the monastery of St. Mesmin near Orléans, France.
In more recent times, Cassian Balmadrid (1810-1887) was a Spanish painter and engraver known for his works depicting historical and religious scenes. He was a prominent figure in the Spanish art world of the 19th century.
Cassian Luisetti (1892-1959) was an American basketball player and coach who is credited with introducing and popularizing the running one-handed shot in the sport. He played for and coached the San Francisco Dons basketball team and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Cassian throughout history, showcasing its rich cultural and historical significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Cassian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cassian 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
Cassian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cassian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,255 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cassian 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 151,997 US residents.
Is Cassian a common name?
We classify Cassian as "Rare". It ranks above 94.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,270 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cassian most popular?
The single biggest year for Cassian was 2023, when 564 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cassian is about 5 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cassian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 654 people with the name Cassian, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,030 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 Cassian 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 Cassian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cassian leans strongly male. 627 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 31 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Cassian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cassian is White at 44.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.0%) and Two or More Races (11.3%). 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 Cassian most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cassian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.6% (292 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 Cassian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cassian a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Cassian 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 Cassian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cassian 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 Cassian 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 Americans are named Cassian?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.