Cengiz
Turkish form of Genghis, derived from the Mongolian word "tenggis" meaning universal ruler.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Cengiz. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cengiz today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cengiz births was 1996 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cengiz. 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 Cengiz with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cengiz. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1996
5 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
1996 SSA rank
#9,213
Tracked since 1996
Census
Cengiz in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 267 people with the first name Cengiz, which placed it at #31,863 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
#31,863
National first-name rank
People counted
267
267 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cengiz
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cengiz is White at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.1%). 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 Cengiz 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 Cengiz at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.4% · 252
- Two or more races3.7% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3
- Black or African American0.4% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 1
Popularity
Cengiz: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Cengiz 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 Cengiz during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Cengiz
The name Cengiz has its origins in the Turkic languages, primarily spoken in Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe. It is a variant of the name Genghis, which was the title or honorific bestowed upon the famous Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, whose birth name was Temüjin.
The name Genghis is derived from the Mongolian word "tenggis," which means "ocean" or "sea." It is believed that this title was given to Temüjin due to his vast military conquests and the expansive reach of his empire, which stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Black Sea.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Genghis can be found in the Secret History of the Mongols, a 13th-century Mongolian chronicle that recounts the life and exploits of Genghis Khan. This historical text, written in the Mongolian script, provides valuable insights into the origins and significance of the name.
Throughout history, the name Cengiz has been borne by several notable individuals, including Cengiz Aytmatov (1928-2008), a highly acclaimed Kyrgyz writer and novelist who was widely regarded as one of the most influential literary figures of the Soviet era. His novels, such as "The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years" and "The White Steamship," explored themes of tradition, modernity, and the human condition.
Another prominent figure was Cengiz Topel (1934-2015), a Turkish film director, screenwriter, and actor who made significant contributions to Turkish cinema. He directed acclaimed films such as "The Bride" and "The Caucasian Chalk Circle," which garnered international recognition and numerous awards.
In the realm of sports, Cengiz Ünder (born 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Olympique de Marseille and the Turkish national team. He has represented Turkey at various youth levels and made his senior international debut in 2017.
Cengiz Dağcı (1920-2011) was a Turkish writer, poet, and translator who played a significant role in introducing modern Western literature to Turkish readers. He translated works by authors such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Ernest Hemingway, and was awarded numerous literary honors for his contributions.
Lastly, Cengiz Abazoğlu (born 1956) is a Turkish businessman and billionaire who founded the Abazoğlu Group, a conglomerate with interests in energy, construction, and real estate. He has been listed among the wealthiest individuals in Turkey by various publications.
People
Cengiz + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cengiz 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
Cengiz: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cengiz?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cengiz 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Cengiz a common name?
We classify Cengiz as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cengiz most popular?
The single biggest year for Cengiz was 1996, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cengiz is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cengiz in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 267 people with the name Cengiz, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,863 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 Cengiz 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 Cengiz?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cengiz appears almost entirely male. Of the 261 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Cengiz?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cengiz is White at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.1%). 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 Cengiz most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cengiz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.4% (252 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 Cengiz in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cengiz a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cengiz 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 Cengiz still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cengiz 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 Cengiz 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 Cengiz?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.