Cayleen
A feminine name derived from the Irish word "cadhla" meaning "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 86 living Americans carry the first name Cayleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cayleen today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cayleen births was 2014 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cayleen. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cayleen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
86
~ 1 in 3,985,516 Americans
Peak year
2014
12 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,290
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Cayleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cayleen from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 45 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
Cayleen 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 Cayleen 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 Cayleen
The name Cayleen has its origins in the Gaelic language, rooted in the cultures of Ireland and Scotland. It is a feminine form of the name Cailean, which itself is derived from the old Gaelic words "cail" meaning "slender" and "fionn" meaning "fair" or "white."
This name traces its earliest known usage back to the 16th century, with records showing variations such as Cailene, Caileen, and Cayleene appearing in historical documents from that era. While the name did not feature prominently in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it was used across the Gaelic-speaking regions of Ireland and Scotland during the medieval and Renaissance periods.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Cayleen was Cayleen Ó Conchobhair, a noblewoman from County Sligo, Ireland, who lived in the late 16th century. Another notable figure was Cayleen MacGregor, a Scottish poet and writer from the 17th century, renowned for her works celebrating the highlands and Gaelic culture.
In the 18th century, Cayleen Macleod, a Scottish-born artist, gained recognition for her landscape paintings depicting the rugged beauty of the Hebrides islands. A century later, Cayleen O'Sullivan, an Irish-American activist, played a pivotal role in the labor rights movement in the United States during the late 19th century.
Moving into the 20th century, Cayleen Murphy, born in 1912, was a celebrated Irish traditional singer and musician, renowned for her renditions of ancient Gaelic ballads and folk songs. Her contributions helped preserve and popularize Ireland's rich musical heritage.
These are just a few examples of individuals who bore the name Cayleen throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and cultural spheres across Ireland, Scotland, and beyond.
People
Cayleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cayleen 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
Cayleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cayleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cayleen 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 3,985,516 US residents.
Is Cayleen a common name?
We classify Cayleen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 88 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cayleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Cayleen was 2014, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cayleen is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cayleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cayleen 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.