Cervante
A Spanish masculine name meaning "from Cervantes", derived from a city name.
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Cervante. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cervante today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cervante births was 1998 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cervante. 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 Cervante. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1998
5 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2009 SSA rank
#12,798
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Cervante: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cervante from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5 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
Cervante 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 Cervante 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 Cervante
The given name Cervante is derived from the Spanish surname Cervantes, which is believed to have originated in the region of La Rioja in northern Spain. The surname Cervantes is thought to be a toponym, meaning it was originally derived from a place name or location.
In Spanish, the word "cervantes" is the plural form of "cervante," which refers to a deer or stag. It is possible that the surname, and subsequently the given name, may have originated from a location associated with deer or hunting grounds. However, the exact origins of the name are not entirely clear.
One of the earliest and most famous individuals with the name Cervante is Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the renowned Spanish novelist and playwright who lived from 1547 to 1616. He is best known for his masterpiece, "Don Quixote," which is considered one of the greatest works of fiction in Western literature.
Another notable figure with the name Cervante is Cervante Vázquez, a Mexican painter and sculptor who lived from 1923 to 1988. He was a prominent figure in the Mexican muralist movement and is known for his monumental public works, including the "History of Labor" mural at the Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City.
In the world of literature, there is Cervante de Salazar, a 16th-century Spanish poet and playwright. He was a contemporary of Miguel de Cervantes and is known for his works such as "La Mexicana" and "Dos famosos hechos de Bernardo del Carpio."
Moving to the realm of politics, there is Cervante García Barranco, a Mexican politician who served as the Governor of Chiapas from 1911 to 1914. He played a significant role during the Mexican Revolution and was instrumental in the establishment of the revolutionary government in Chiapas.
Lastly, in the field of music, there is Cervante Pope, an American singer-songwriter and record producer who was born in 1982. He is known for his work with various hip-hop and R&B artists, as well as his own solo music projects.
While the given name Cervante is not as common as some other names, it carries a rich historical and cultural significance, particularly in Spanish-speaking regions, and has been borne by notable individuals across various fields throughout history.
People
Cervante + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cervante 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
Cervante: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cervante?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cervante 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Cervante a common name?
We classify Cervante as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cervante most popular?
The single biggest year for Cervante was 1998, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cervante is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Cervante in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cervante a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cervante 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 Cervante still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cervante 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 Cervante 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Cervante?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.