Cayne
A masculine name of uncertain origin, possibly Celtic or Old English.
Name Census estimates that about 441 living Americans carry the first name Cayne. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cayne today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cayne births was 2008 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cayne. 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 Cayne with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
441
~ 1 in 777,221 Americans
Peak year
2008
26 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,078
Tracked since 1993
Census
Cayne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 364 people with the first name Cayne, which placed it at #25,851 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
#25,851
National first-name rank
People counted
364
364 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cayne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cayne is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Two or More Races (10.2%). 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 Cayne 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 Cayne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.8% · 243
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 46
- Two or more races10.2% · 37
- Black or African American8.0% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
Popularity
Cayne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cayne from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 177 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cayne remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cayne 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 Cayne 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 Cayne
The name Cayne is believed to have originated from the Old English word "cyne," which means "bold" or "brave." This name was particularly popular among the Anglo-Saxon tribes that inhabited parts of present-day England during the early medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cayne can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Caine" in this historical document, referring to a landowner in the county of Gloucestershire.
In the 12th century, a French monk named Cayne de Lille gained recognition for his scholarly works on theology and philosophy. He is credited with contributing to the intellectual and religious discourse of his time, and his writings remain influential in certain academic circles to this day.
During the Renaissance period, Cayne Merrick, an English playwright and poet, rose to prominence in the literary circles of Elizabethan England. Born in 1568, Merrick's works often explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition, earning him a place among the notable writers of his era.
In the 19th century, Cayne Pritchard, a Welsh entrepreneur and industrialist, made significant contributions to the development of the coal mining industry in South Wales. His innovative mining techniques and business acumen helped shape the economic landscape of the region during the Industrial Revolution.
Another notable figure bearing the name Cayne was Sir Cayne Edgerton, a British diplomat and statesman who served as the Ambassador to France in the early 20th century. Born in 1872, Edgerton played a crucial role in fostering diplomatic relations between the two nations during a period of political tension and upheaval.
While the name Cayne may have originated from Old English roots, its use has transcended geographical boundaries and cultural contexts over the centuries. The individuals mentioned above represent just a few examples of the diverse backgrounds and achievements associated with this name throughout history.
People
Cayne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cayne 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
Cayne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cayne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 441 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cayne 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 777,221 US residents.
Is Cayne a common name?
We classify Cayne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 445 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cayne most popular?
The single biggest year for Cayne was 2008, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cayne is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cayne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 364 people with the name Cayne, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,851 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 Cayne 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 Cayne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cayne leans strongly male. 346 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 9 female bearers (2.5%). 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 Cayne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cayne is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Two or More Races (10.2%). 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 Cayne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cayne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.8% (243 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 Cayne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cayne a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cayne 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 Cayne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cayne 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 Cayne 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 Cayne as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.