Cassidy
An Irish name meaning "clever" or "ingenious."
Name Census estimates that about 62,566 living Americans carry the first name Cassidy. It sits at #476 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (94.2% of registrations). The average person named Cassidy today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cassidy births was 1999 (3,449 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cassidy. 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
63K
~ 1 in 5,478 Americans
Peak year
1999
3,449 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#476
Tracked since 1968
Gender
Gender distribution for Cassidy
Cassidy leans heavily female at 94.2% of total registrations, but 3,684 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cassidy as a male name
- Ranked #2,308 in 2024
- 61 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1984 (169 births)
Cassidy as a female name
- Ranked #476 in 2024
- 646 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (3,395 births)
Popularity
Cassidy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cassidy from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 21,658 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cassidy 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 Cassidy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cassidys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Cassidy, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,177 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cassidy
The name Cassidy originated from the Irish Gaelic name "Cáisídhe", which is derived from the word "cáis", meaning "clever" or "ingenious". It was initially used as a surname in Ireland, particularly in the counties of Fermanagh and Tyrone.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cassidy dates back to the 16th century, when it was documented in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient Irish chronicle. During this period, the Cassidy clan was prominent in Ulster, and the name was closely associated with the region.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Cassidy was Felim Ó Cáisídhe (c. 1560-1631), an Irish chieftain and leader of the Cassidy clan in Fermanagh. He played a significant role in the Nine Years' War (1593-1603) against English forces.
In the 17th century, the name Cassidy gained popularity as a given name, particularly among Irish Catholic families. One notable figure was Father Patrick Cassidy (1647-1684), an Irish Catholic priest and martyr who was executed during the Popish Plot, a fictitious conspiracy against King Charles II.
As the Irish diaspora spread across the world, the name Cassidy traveled with them. In the late 19th century, Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker, 1866-1908) became one of the most famous outlaws in American history, leading the Wild Bunch gang in the American Old West.
Another prominent figure with the name Cassidy was Jack Cassidy (1927-1976), an American actor and singer known for his roles on Broadway and television shows like "He & She" and "The Eiger Sanction". He was also the father of actress Shaun Cassidy and the late actor David Cassidy.
In the world of literature, Eva Cassidy (1963-1996) was an American singer and guitarist renowned for her unique interpretations of jazz, blues, and folk songs. Although she gained little recognition during her lifetime, her posthumous album "Songbird" became a critical and commercial success.
Cassidy has also been a popular name in sports, with notable figures including Cassidy Hubbarth, an American sportscaster and host for ESPN and ABC, and Cassidy Darling, an American Olympic swimmer who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Cassidy
People
Cassidy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cassidy 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
Cassidy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cassidy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 62,566 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cassidy 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 5,478 US residents.
Is Cassidy a common name?
We classify Cassidy as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63,963 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cassidy most popular?
The single biggest year for Cassidy was 1999, when 3,449 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cassidy is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cassidy a female name?
Yes, 94.2% of people registered as Cassidy 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.
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.