Cinch
A word used informally to describe something easy or easily accomplished.
Name Census estimates that about 183 living Americans carry the first name Cinch. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cinch today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cinch births was 2012 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cinch. 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.
People living today
183
~ 1 in 1,872,975 Americans
Peak year
2012
20 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,642
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Cinch: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cinch from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 117 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cinch remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cinch 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 Cinch during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cinchs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cinch
The name Cinch is an unusual one with a rather obscure origin. It is believed to have its roots in the ancient Germanic language of Proto-Germanic, where it was derived from the word "kinkaz," which meant a loop or a bend. This word eventually evolved into the Old English word "cince," which was used to describe a girth or a belt that was cinched or tightened around a horse or other animal.
During the Middle Ages, the name Cinch was sometimes used as a nickname or a surname for individuals who worked with animals or were involved in the equestrian trade. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where a man named Cinch the Farrier is listed as a resident of Lincolnshire, England.
In the 14th century, the name Cinch made a brief appearance in the literary world when it was used as the name of a character in the medieval romance "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." In this poem, Cinch is described as a skilled horseman and a member of King Arthur's court.
Throughout the centuries, the name Cinch remained relatively rare, but there were a few notable individuals who bore this moniker. In the 16th century, there was a Flemish painter named Cinch van Eyck (1495-1564) who was known for his portraits of the wealthy merchants and aristocrats of Antwerp.
In the 18th century, Cinch Buchanan (1726-1805) was a Scottish explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively throughout the Americas, documenting the flora and fauna of the New World. His detailed journals and drawings were highly influential in the field of natural history.
Another famous bearer of the name was Cinch Chadwick (1842-1919), a British engineer who played a crucial role in the construction of the first underground railway system in London. His innovative techniques for tunneling through the city's clay soil were widely admired and helped pave the way for the development of modern subway systems.
While the name Cinch has never been particularly common, it has persisted through the ages, carried by a handful of individuals who left their mark on various fields, from art and literature to exploration and engineering.
People
Cinch + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cinch 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
Cinch: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cinch?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cinch 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 1,872,975 US residents.
Is Cinch a common name?
We classify Cinch as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 184 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cinch most popular?
The single biggest year for Cinch was 2012, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cinch is about 11 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 Cinch in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cinch a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cinch 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 Cinch still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cinch 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 Cinch 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 are called Cinch?
You can see how many people share the name Cinch on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.