Caylan
A variant spelling of the Irish name Cailean, meaning "whelp" or "pup".
Name Census estimates that about 390 living Americans carry the first name Caylan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Caylan today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caylan births was 1995 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caylan. 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
390
~ 1 in 878,857 Americans
Peak year
1995
32 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2013 SSA rank
#10,968
Tracked since 1983
Gender
Gender distribution for Caylan
Caylan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 400 total registrations, 154 (38.5%) were male and 246 (61.5%) were female.
Caylan as a male name
- Ranked #10,968 in 2013
- 6 male births in 2013
- Peak: 1992 (19 births)
Caylan as a female name
- Ranked #16,366 in 2017
- 5 female births in 2017
- Peak: 1995 (20 births)
Popularity
Caylan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caylan from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 194 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caylan 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 Caylan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caylan
The given name Caylan is believed to have its roots in the ancient Celtic languages spoken across parts of Europe. It is thought to be derived from the Old Irish word "caileán," which translates to "young lad" or "young man." This suggests that the name was initially used to refer to male children or teenagers.
Variations of the name, such as "Caelen" or "Caelan," can be traced back to early medieval times in regions like Scotland and Ireland. Some sources also link the name to the Gaelic word "cailín," meaning "girl" or "young woman," implying that it may have been used for both genders in different contexts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Caylan can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a historical chronicle compiled by Irish monks in the 15th century. The entry from the year 1433 mentions a "Caylanus mac Domhnaill," which translates to "Caylan, son of Dónall."
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Caylan or its variations. One of the most prominent was Caylan mac Scannlain (1050-1121), an Irish king who ruled over the Kingdom of Desmond in present-day County Cork, Ireland, during the late 11th and early 12th centuries.
Another noteworthy figure was Caelan of Armagh (1070-1148), an Irish cleric and scholar who served as the Archbishop of Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, in the 12th century. He was renowned for his contributions to the preservation and study of ancient Irish manuscripts.
In the 16th century, a Scottish nobleman named Caylan Macnab (1525-1595) played a significant role in the clan conflicts and power struggles that characterized that era in Scottish history.
Moving forward in time, Caylan O'Donnell (1810-1887) was an Irish-American soldier who fought in the American Civil War and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.
More recently, Caylan Arnold (1901-1976) was a British artist and sculptor known for his modernist works and his involvement in the Vorticist movement of the early 20th century.
While the name Caylan has Celtic origins and a rich historical legacy, its usage has been relatively uncommon in more modern times, particularly outside of Ireland, Scotland, and certain regions of the United States with strong Irish or Scottish heritage.
People
Caylan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caylan 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
Caylan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caylan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 390 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caylan 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 878,857 US residents.
Is Caylan a common name?
We classify Caylan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 400 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caylan most popular?
The single biggest year for Caylan was 1995, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caylan is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Caylan a female name?
Yes, 61.5% of people registered as Caylan 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.