Cayse
A feminine given name, a variant of "Casey", of Irish origin and uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 93 living Americans carry the first name Cayse. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Cayse today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cayse births was 1998 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cayse. 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 Cayse. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
93
~ 1 in 3,685,531 Americans
Peak year
1998
10 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,049
Tracked since 1986
Census
Cayse in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 203 people with the first name Cayse, which placed it at #38,074 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
#38,074
National first-name rank
People counted
203
203 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cayse
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cayse is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Cayse 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 Cayse at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.9% · 150
- Black or African American8.9% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 17
- Two or more races5.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Cayse
Cayse is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 95 total registrations, 75 (78.9%) were male and 20 (21.1%) were female.
Cayse as a male name
- Ranked #10,049 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (10 births)
Cayse as a female name
- Ranked #13,498 in 1991
- 5 female births in 1991
- Peak: 1987 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cayse on both sides of the split. Of the 202 people counted with this name, 111 were male (55.0%) and 91 were female (45.0%).
Popularity
Cayse: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cayse from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 33 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cayse remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cayse 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 Cayse 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 Cayse
The name Cayse is an anglicized spelling of the French name Gais, which can be traced back to the Old French word "gai" meaning joyful or cheerful. The name likely originated in medieval France, sometime around the 12th or 13th century, as a descriptive surname given to individuals with a jovial or lively personality.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cayse can be found in the 14th century Rolle de Brinkburn, a historical record from Northumberland, England. This document mentions a man named Cayse de Vaux, who was a landowner in the region during that time period.
In the 16th century, the name appeared in various parish records and registers throughout England and Scotland, indicating its gradual adoption and spread among English-speaking populations. One notable individual was Cayse Gardiner, a merchant from Bristol, England, who was recorded in the city's records in 1587.
The 17th century saw the emergence of several prominent figures bearing the name Cayse. In 1612, Cayse Calvert was born in Yorkshire, England, and later became a prominent Puritan leader in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Another individual, Cayse Pemberton, was a Quaker from Lancashire, England, born in 1669, who faced persecution for his religious beliefs.
In the 18th century, the name Cayse gained further recognition with individuals like Cayse Wilkinson (1722-1803), a British journalist and poet who was actively involved in the literary circles of London. Additionally, Cayse Browne (1756-1834) was a notable Irish author and playwright, known for his satirical works and comedic plays.
Moving into the 19th century, Cayse Thornton (1811-1887) was a famous American businessman and philanthropist from Massachusetts, who made significant contributions to the development of the textile industry and the establishment of educational institutions in his community.
Throughout its history, the name Cayse has maintained a consistent connection to its French origins, reflecting a sense of joy and liveliness. While not as common as some other names, it has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, leaving their mark on history in their respective fields.
People
Cayse + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cayse 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
Cayse: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cayse?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 93 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cayse 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 3,685,531 US residents.
Is Cayse a common name?
We classify Cayse as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 95 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cayse most popular?
The single biggest year for Cayse was 1998, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cayse is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cayse in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 203 people with the name Cayse, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,074 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 Cayse 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 Cayse?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cayse on both sides of the split. Of the 202 people counted with this name, 111 were male (55.0%) and 91 were female (45.0%). 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 Cayse?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cayse is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Cayse most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cayse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.9% (150 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 Cayse in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cayse a male name?
Yes, 78.9% of people registered as Cayse 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 Cayse still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cayse 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 Cayse 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 Americans are named Cayse?
See how many people share the name Cayse on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.