Cicero
An ancient Roman masculine name of Latin origin meaning "seed grower".
Name Census estimates that about 353 living Americans carry the first name Cicero. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cicero today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cicero births was 1920 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cicero. 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
- • The typical person named Cicero is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ciceros were born before 1970.
People living today
353
~ 1 in 970,975 Americans
Peak year
1920
41 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,638
Tracked since 1880
Census
Cicero in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 493 people with the first name Cicero, which placed it at #20,821 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
#20,821
National first-name rank
People counted
493
493 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
44.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cicero
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cicero is Black at 44.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.2%). 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 Cicero 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 Cicero at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American44.4% · 219
- White31.6% · 156
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.2% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 35
- Two or more races3.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 5
Popularity
Cicero: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cicero from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 272 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cicero 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 Cicero during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ciceros live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. North Carolina, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Cicero, while Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cicero
The name Cicero has its origins in the ancient Roman civilization. It is derived from the Latin word "cicer," which means chickpea or a type of small pea. The name likely originated as a nickname or a cognomen, referring to someone with a prominent nose resembling a chickpea.
One of the earliest and most famous bearers of the name was Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman philosopher, statesman, and orator who lived from 106 BC to 43 BC. He was a prolific writer and is considered one of the greatest orators in Roman history. His writings and speeches had a significant influence on the development of Latin literature and rhetoric.
In ancient Roman texts, the name Cicero appears as a cognomen or a nickname given to members of the Tullii family. It was initially a personal name, but later became a hereditary surname passed down through generations. The name gained widespread recognition due to Marcus Tullius Cicero's prominence and literary contributions.
Another notable figure with the name Cicero was Quintus Tullius Cicero, the younger brother of Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was a Roman statesman and military leader who served as a legate under Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars in the 1st century BC.
In the Middle Ages, the name Cicero remained associated with the legacy of the Roman orator and philosopher. During the Renaissance period, the name experienced a revival as scholars and humanists rediscovered and celebrated the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero.
One of the most famous bearers of the name in the Renaissance era was Cicero Simonetta, an Italian painter and architect who lived from 1459 to 1528. He was known for his contributions to the Renaissance architecture and art in Florence and Rome.
In the 18th century, Cicero Baptista Secco, an Italian painter and engraver, was another notable figure with this name. He lived from 1718 to 1792 and was renowned for his religious paintings and engravings in the Baroque style.
Throughout history, the name Cicero has been associated with eloquence, wisdom, and the pursuit of knowledge, reflecting the enduring influence of the ancient Roman orator and philosopher. While not as common as other names, it has maintained a presence across various cultures and periods, serving as a tribute to the legacy of Marcus Tullius Cicero and his impact on Western civilization.
People
Cicero + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cicero 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
Cicero: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cicero?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cicero 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 970,975 US residents.
Is Cicero a common name?
We classify Cicero as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,448 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cicero most popular?
The single biggest year for Cicero was 1920, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cicero is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cicero in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 493 people with the name Cicero, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,821 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 Cicero 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 Cicero?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cicero leans strongly male. 489 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 6 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Cicero?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cicero is Black at 44.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.2%). 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 Cicero most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cicero in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.4% (219 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 Cicero in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cicero a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cicero 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 Cicero still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cicero 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 Cicero 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 share the name Cicero?
Find out how many people share the name Cicero on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.