Ceri
A feminine Welsh name meaning "love" or "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 71 living Americans carry the first name Ceri. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ceri today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ceri births was 2006 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ceri. 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 Ceri. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
71
~ 1 in 4,827,526 Americans
Peak year
2006
8 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2012 SSA rank
#17,416
Tracked since 1952
Popularity
Ceri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ceri from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 23 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ceri 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 Ceri 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 Ceri
The name Ceri is a Welsh name derived from the word "ceryn," meaning "lover of battling" or "valiant." Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Britons, who inhabited the British Isles before the Roman conquest in the 1st century AD. The name was commonly used among the Celtic tribes of Wales and Cornwall.
In Welsh mythology, Ceri is mentioned as the name of a legendary warrior known for his bravery and skill in battle. Some historians believe that Ceri was also the name of a Welsh prince who lived in the 6th century AD and fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ceri can be found in the Annales Cambriae, a medieval chronicle that documents notable events in Welsh history. The chronicle mentions a certain "Ceri ap Rhiwallon" who was a ruler in the kingdom of Gwynedd in the late 6th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ceri. One such person was Ceri Richards (1903-1971), a renowned Welsh painter and poet who was a prominent figure in the British avant-garde movement of the 20th century. Another was Ceri Rhys Jones (1901-1968), a Welsh actor and comedian known for his roles in various BBC radio programs.
In the realm of sports, Ceri Rees (born 1962) was a Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales in international competitions during the 1980s and 1990s. Ceri Sweeney (born 1981) is a Welsh professional golfer who has won several tournaments on the European Tour.
Ceri Watkins (born 1994) is a contemporary Welsh actress and singer who has appeared in various television shows and films, including the Netflix series "Sex Education."
People
Ceri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ceri 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
Ceri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ceri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 71 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ceri 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 4,827,526 US residents.
Is Ceri a common name?
We classify Ceri as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 78 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ceri most popular?
The single biggest year for Ceri was 2006, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ceri is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ceri a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ceri 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.