Cailynn
A feminine name of Gaelic origin meaning "pure, bright-headed".
Name Census estimates that about 1,152 living Americans carry the first name Cailynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cailynn today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cailynn births was 2009 (68 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cailynn. 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
- • Cailynn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 297,530 Americans
Peak year
2009
68 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,033
Tracked since 1990
Census
Cailynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 900 people with the first name Cailynn, which placed it at #13,423 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
#13,423
National first-name rank
People counted
900
900 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cailynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cailynn is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.6%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Cailynn 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 Cailynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.7% · 573
- Black or African American17.6% · 158
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 80
- Two or more races7.0% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 10
Popularity
Cailynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cailynn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 529 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cailynn 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 Cailynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cailynns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Cailynn, while Michigan, Louisiana, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cailynn
The given name Cailynn is a relatively modern name that originated as a variant spelling of the Scottish name Cailin. The name Cailin itself is a diminutive form of the Gaelic name Cailean, which is derived from the medieval Irish name Colín, meaning "young dog" or "whelp".
The earliest recorded use of the name Cailynn can be traced back to the late 20th century in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and Canada. It is believed to have emerged as a creative spelling variation of the more traditional Scottish name Cailin, possibly influenced by the popularity of names ending with the "lynn" sound.
Despite its modern origin, the name Cailynn carries the historical roots and meaning associated with its Scottish and Irish counterparts. The name Colín, from which Cailynn ultimately derives, was a common name among Irish and Scottish families and can be found in historical records and genealogical documents from the medieval period onwards.
While there are no well-known historical figures specifically named Cailynn, several notable individuals have borne the related names Cailin and Colín throughout history. One such example is Cailín Óg, a legendary Irish warrior and folk hero from the 14th century. Another is Colin Campbell, a Scottish nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the 17th century.
In more recent times, some individuals who have carried variations of the name Cailynn include Cailin Russo, an American actress born in 1991, and Cailin Kifer, an American soccer player born in 1995. Additionally, the name Cailynn has been used by various authors and creators for fictional characters in literature, film, and other media.
Overall, while the specific spelling of Cailynn may be relatively new, the name carries a rich heritage rooted in Celtic and Scottish culture, with connections to historical figures and legends from those regions.
People
Cailynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cailynn 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
Cailynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cailynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,152 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cailynn 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 297,530 US residents.
Is Cailynn a common name?
We classify Cailynn as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,166 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cailynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Cailynn was 2009, when 68 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cailynn is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cailynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 900 people with the name Cailynn, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,423 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 Cailynn 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 Cailynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cailynn appears almost entirely female. Of the 904 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Cailynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cailynn is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.6%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Cailynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cailynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.7% (573 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 Cailynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cailynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cailynn 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 Cailynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cailynn 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 Cailynn 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 are called Cailynn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.