2000
#6,434
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,868
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.80
Rare Last name
Caban
A Breton occupational surname referring to a boatman or mariner.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,619 Americans carry the last name Caban. That puts it at #5,783 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.93 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 51,783 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Caban surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Caban with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.6K
1 in 51,783
Census rank
#5,783
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,772 bearers of the surname Caban in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.93 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5783rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Caban, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (11.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Caban
The surname Caban has its origins in the Gaelic language, tracing back to the ancient Celtic people of Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the word "caban," which means "a small, round hut" or "a cottage." The name likely referred to someone who lived in a humble dwelling or was associated with a particular cottage or hamlet.
In its earliest recorded forms, the name appeared as Cabane, Cabin, and Cabyn in medieval Scottish and Irish records. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which documented Scottish landowners and nobles who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England.
The surname Caban has a long history in Ireland, particularly in the counties of Donegal, Galway, and Mayo. It is believed that the name was introduced to Ireland during the Plantations of the 16th and 17th centuries, when Scottish settlers brought their surnames to the island. Some early bearers of the name include John Caban, who was born in Donegal around 1610, and Michael Caban, a farmer from County Mayo born in 1678.
In Scotland, the name was particularly prevalent in the Highlands and Islands regions. Notable individuals with the surname Caban include Lachlan Caban, a renowned piper from the Isle of Skye who lived in the late 17th century, and Angus Caban, a soldier in the Jacobite Rising of 1745, who fought alongside Prince Charles Edward Stuart.
As the name spread across the British Isles, it also found its way to England and Wales. One notable English bearer of the name was Sir Robert Caban, a merchant and Member of Parliament for Bristol in the mid-17th century. In Wales, the name was sometimes anglicized to Cabin or Cabbin, as seen in the case of Ieuan Cabbin, a farmer from Pembrokeshire who lived in the late 16th century.
Other notable individuals with the surname Caban throughout history include:
1. Seamus Caban (1755-1835), an Irish poet and storyteller from County Donegal.
2. Alastair Caban (1820-1892), a Scottish explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in Africa and the Pacific.
3. Margaret Caban (1867-1946), a pioneering Scottish suffragette and advocate for women's rights.
4. Patrick Caban (1901-1976), an Irish-American labor organizer and leader of the United Farm Workers union.
5. Siobhan Caban (born 1972), a contemporary Scottish author and playwright known for her works exploring themes of identity and belonging.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caban
Among Census respondents with the surname Caban, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (11.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Caban bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Caban surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino84.4% · 4,874
- White11.2% · 647
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 115
- Black or African American1.5% · 87
- Two or more races0.7% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Caban
Caban appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#5,791
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,974
+1,106 bearers (+22.7%)
Per 100,000 2.03
Rank movement Up 643 places
2020
#5,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,772
-202 bearers (-3.4%)
Per 100,000 1.93
Rank movement Up 8 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,434 | 4,868 | 1.80 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,791 | 5,974 | 2.03 | +1,106 bearers (+22.7%) | Up 643 places |
| 2020 | #5,783 | 5,772 | 1.93 | -202 bearers (-3.4%) | Up 8 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Caban surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #5,791 | #5,783 | 0.1% |
| Count | 5,974 | 5,772 | -3.4% |
| Per 100K | 2.03 | 1.93 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Caban bearers went from 5,974 to 5,772 (-3.4% change). The surname moved up 8 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,791 to #5,783.
FAQ
Caban surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Caban?
Name Census estimates that about 6,619 living Americans carry the surname Caban. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 51,783 residents.
How common is Caban?
Caban ranks #5,783 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.93 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,772 people with the surname Caban. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,619), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.93 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.93 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Caban.
Has Caban become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Caban went from 5,974 recorded bearers to 5,772. That is a decrease of 202 (-3.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #5,791 to #5,783.
What does the Census say about the background of Caban?
Among Census respondents with the surname Caban, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (11.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Caban in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (4,874 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Caban appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (84.4%), White (11.2%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Caban (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Caban mean?
A Breton occupational surname referring to a boatman or mariner. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Caban (1.93 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Caban?
Want to know how many people have the surname Caban? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.