Cassien
A masculine name of French origin meaning "hollow, empty, or worthless".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Cassien. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cassien today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cassien births was 2019 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cassien. 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 Cassien with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cassien. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2019
7 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2019 SSA rank
#9,920
Tracked since 2018
Popularity
Cassien: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Cassien 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 Cassien during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Cassien
The name Cassien originates from the Late Latin Cassiānus, which was derived from the Roman family name Cassius. The Cassius gens was a prominent patrician family in ancient Rome, tracing their ancestry back to the founding of the city.
The name Cassien gained popularity in the Christian tradition due to Saint John Cassian, a monk and theologian who lived in the late 4th and early 5th centuries. He is revered for introducing the ideas and practices of Eastern monasticism to the West. His writings, particularly his work on monastic institutions, the "Institutes" and the "Conferences," had a significant influence on the development of Western monasticism.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cassien can be found in the writings of the 6th-century historian Gregory of Tours, who mentioned a bishop named Cassien in his work "Historia Francorum." This suggests that the name was in use in Gaul (modern-day France) during the early medieval period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cassien. One of the most famous was Cassien de Nantes (c. 680 - c. 720), a Breton prince who became a monk and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Another prominent figure was Cassien de Marseille (c. 360 - c. 435), a monk and theologian who is considered one of the founders of Western monasticism.
In the 11th century, Cassien de Vedène (c. 1050 - c. 1120) was a French abbot and saint who helped reform the Benedictine order in southern France. Several centuries later, Cassien de Lille (1600 - 1676) was a French Jesuit priest and author who wrote extensively on theology and philosophy.
The name Cassien also appeared in the Byzantine Empire, where the 11th-century theologian and bishop Cassien of Constantinople (c. 1010 - c. 1092) played a significant role in the theological debates of his time.
While the name Cassien has its roots in ancient Roman and Christian traditions, it has maintained a presence throughout history, being borne by various individuals from different regions and backgrounds.
People
Cassien + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cassien 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
Cassien: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cassien?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cassien 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Cassien a common name?
We classify Cassien as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cassien most popular?
The single biggest year for Cassien was 2019, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cassien is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Cassien in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cassien a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cassien 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 Cassien still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cassien 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 Cassien 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Cassien?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.