Caelin
A masculine name of Celtic origin meaning "slender" or "small warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 752 living Americans carry the first name Caelin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Caelin today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caelin births was 1997 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caelin. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Caelin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
752
~ 1 in 455,790 Americans
Peak year
1997
48 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,657
Tracked since 1992
Census
Caelin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 760 people with the first name Caelin, which placed it at #15,210 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
#15,210
National first-name rank
People counted
760
760 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caelin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caelin is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.7%) and Black (8.4%). 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 Caelin 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 Caelin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 559
- Two or more races8.7% · 66
- Black or African American8.4% · 64
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Caelin
Caelin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 764 total registrations, 334 (43.7%) were male and 430 (56.3%) were female.
Caelin as a male name
- Ranked #12,657 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1997 (21 births)
Caelin as a female name
- Ranked #15,666 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (29 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Caelin on both sides of the split. Of the 772 people counted with this name, 305 were male (39.5%) and 467 were female (60.5%).
Popularity
Caelin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caelin from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 372 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caelin 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 Caelin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caelins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Caelin
The given name Caelin has its origins rooted in the Gaelic culture of Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the Old Irish word "caelán," which means "slender" or "thin." This name gained popularity during the medieval period, particularly among the Celtic communities of the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Caelin can be traced back to the 9th century, when it was mentioned in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The name appeared in reference to a historical figure, Caelin of Armagh, who was a prominent scholar and abbot in the monastic tradition of that era.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Caelin held significant cultural significance among the Irish and Scottish clans. It was often bestowed upon individuals who possessed a slender or graceful physique, reflecting the name's original meaning.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Caelin O'Conor rose to prominence as the King of Connacht, a prominent kingdom in western Ireland. His reign was marked by notable achievements in diplomacy and military strategy, further solidifying the name's association with strength and leadership.
During the Renaissance period, the name Caelin gained recognition beyond the Celtic realms. Caelin Buitler, an Irish philosopher and theologian born in 1544, made significant contributions to the intellectual discourse of his time, particularly in the fields of ethics and metaphysics.
In more recent centuries, the name Caelin has continued to appear in various historical contexts. Caelin Loftus, a British explorer born in 1784, gained fame for his expeditions to the Arctic regions, where he documented the lives of indigenous peoples and made valuable cartographic contributions.
Another noteworthy figure was Caelin Huxley, a renowned English writer and philosopher born in 1923. Huxley's literary works explored themes of existentialism, ethics, and the human condition, earning him critical acclaim and a lasting legacy in the world of literature.
It is important to note that while these historical examples provide insights into the rich tapestry of the name Caelin, its usage and popularity have evolved over time, transcending cultural and geographic boundaries, reflecting the ever-changing nature of naming traditions.
People
Caelin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caelin 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
Caelin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caelin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 752 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caelin 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 455,790 US residents.
Is Caelin a common name?
We classify Caelin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 764 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caelin most popular?
The single biggest year for Caelin was 1997, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caelin is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Caelin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 760 people with the name Caelin, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,210 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 Caelin 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 Caelin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Caelin on both sides of the split. Of the 772 people counted with this name, 305 were male (39.5%) and 467 were female (60.5%). 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 Caelin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caelin is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.7%) and Black (8.4%). 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 Caelin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Caelin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (559 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 Caelin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caelin a female name?
Yes, 56.3% of people registered as Caelin 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.
Is Caelin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caelin 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 Caelin 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 have Caelin as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.