Cain
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "spear" or "smith".
Name Census estimates that about 7,200 living Americans carry the first name Cain. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cain today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cain births was 2014 (330 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cain. 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 Cain with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.2K
~ 1 in 47,605 Americans
Peak year
2014
330 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#974
Tracked since 1910
Census
Cain in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,793 people with the first name Cain, which placed it at #3,560 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
#3,560
National first-name rank
People counted
5.8K
5,793 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cain
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cain is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (38.4%) and Black (5.3%). 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 Cain 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 Cain at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.9% · 2,833
- Hispanic or Latino38.4% · 2,223
- Black or African American5.3% · 309
- Two or more races5.1% · 295
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 64
Popularity
Cain: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cain from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,813 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cain remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cain 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 Cain during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cains live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Cain, while West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 132 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cain
The name Cain is derived from the Hebrew biblical name Qayin, meaning "spear" or "acquisition". It has its origins in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible. Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, and the first human child born into the world according to the biblical account.
Cain is a prominent figure in the biblical narrative, known for being the first murderer. He killed his younger brother Abel out of jealousy after God favored Abel's offering over his own. As a result, Cain was cursed by God and condemned to a life of wandering. His name has become synonymous with fratricide and the concept of the "mark of Cain" has been interpreted as a sign of divine protection or a curse, depending on the tradition.
One of the earliest recorded individuals named Cain is Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, mentioned in the Book of Genesis, which is dated to around the 6th century BCE. However, the name likely predates the written account and may have been in use among ancient Semitic peoples.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cain. One example is Cain (Caino), a 13th-century Italian painter and architect from Siena, who worked on the Siena Cathedral and other notable buildings in the city.
Another notable Cain was Cain Marko, better known as the Juggernaut, a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Men #12 in 1965 and has since become a prominent figure in the Marvel Universe.
In literature, Cain is the name of a character in Lord Byron's narrative poem "Cain: A Mystery" (1821), which explores the biblical story of Cain and Abel from a different perspective.
In the realm of music, Cain is the name of an American rock band formed in the late 1990s, known for their hit singles "Confessions" and "Desire".
Finally, Cain Velasquez (born 1982) is a Mexican-American former professional mixed martial artist and former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, known for his outstanding wrestling skills and powerful striking.
These are just a few examples of the notable figures throughout history who have borne the name Cain, a name deeply rooted in biblical tradition and carrying a significant symbolic weight.
People
Cain + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cain 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
Cain: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cain?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,200 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cain 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 47,605 US residents.
Is Cain a common name?
We classify Cain as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,441 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cain most popular?
The single biggest year for Cain was 2014, when 330 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cain is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cain in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,793 people with the name Cain, or 1.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,560 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 Cain 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 Cain?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cain appears almost entirely male. Of the 5,794 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Cain?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cain is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (38.4%) and Black (5.3%). 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 Cain most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cain in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.9% (2,833 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 Cain in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cain a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cain 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 Cain still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cain 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 Cain 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 Cain?
You can see how many people have the name Cain on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.