Cauy
An English masculine name derived from the Native American Cayuga tribe.
Name Census estimates that about 184 living Americans carry the first name Cauy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cauy today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cauy births was 2000 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cauy. 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
184
~ 1 in 1,862,795 Americans
Peak year
2000
67 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2008 SSA rank
#10,026
Tracked since 1999
Census
Cauy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 198 people with the first name Cauy, which placed it at #38,638 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
#38,638
National first-name rank
People counted
198
198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cauy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cauy is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (14.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Cauy 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 Cauy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.8% · 152
- American Indian and Alaska Native14.6% · 29
- Two or more races4.5% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 3
Popularity
Cauy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cauy from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 155 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
Cauy 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 Cauy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cauys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Iowa, Arizona, Kansas recorded the most babies named Cauy, while North Dakota, Kansas, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cauy
The name Cauy has its origins in the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete, which flourished around 2000 BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Minoan word "kauya," meaning "wave" or "sea foam." This suggests that the name may have been given to individuals born near coastal areas or with a connection to the sea.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cauy can be found in a Linear A inscription dating back to around 1700 BCE. This inscription, discovered in the ruins of the Minoan palace of Knossos, mentions a person with this name, though their exact role or status is unclear.
During the Hellenistic period, a famous philosopher and mathematician named Cauy of Samos lived in the 5th century BCE. He is credited with making significant contributions to the field of geometry and is known for his work on the construction of regular polygons using only a compass and straightedge.
In the 1st century CE, a Roman senator named Cauy Pompeius is mentioned in historical records. He was a prominent figure during the reign of Emperor Tiberius and is said to have been an influential politician in the Roman Senate.
Fast-forwarding to the Middle Ages, a notable figure bearing the name Cauy was Cauy the Venerable, a Benedictine monk and scholar who lived in the 8th century CE. He is renowned for his extensive writings on theology, history, and education, and his works had a significant impact on the intellectual and cultural landscape of the time.
Another prominent individual with the name Cauy was Cauy the Great, a 12th-century ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, which spanned parts of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. He is remembered for his military conquests and for establishing a powerful dynasty that ruled over a vast territory for several decades.
It is important to note that while these examples illustrate the historical presence of the name Cauy, its usage and popularity have likely varied across different regions and time periods. The name's enduring legacy, however, is a testament to its unique origins and the fascinating stories woven into its history.
People
Cauy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cauy 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
Cauy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cauy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 184 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cauy 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 1,862,795 US residents.
Is Cauy a common name?
We classify Cauy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 187 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cauy most popular?
The single biggest year for Cauy was 2000, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cauy is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cauy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 198 people with the name Cauy, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,638 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 Cauy 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 Cauy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cauy leans strongly male. 195 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Cauy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cauy is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (14.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Cauy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cauy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.8% (152 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 Cauy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cauy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cauy 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 Cauy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cauy 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 Cauy 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 the name Cauy?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.