Cambria
A feminine name derived from the Welsh word "Cymry," meaning a person from Wales.
Name Census estimates that about 5,999 living Americans carry the first name Cambria. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cambria today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cambria births was 2012 (275 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cambria. 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
6.0K
~ 1 in 57,135 Americans
Peak year
2012
275 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,691
Tracked since 1963
Census
Cambria in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,902 people with the first name Cambria, which placed it at #3,972 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
#3,972
National first-name rank
People counted
4.9K
4,902 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cambria
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cambria is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Cambria 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 Cambria at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.6% · 3,463
- Hispanic or Latino12.5% · 615
- Black or African American7.5% · 370
- Two or more races7.2% · 355
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 46
Popularity
Cambria: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cambria from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,413 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cambria remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cambria 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 Cambria during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cambrias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, Utah recorded the most babies named Cambria, while Mississippi, Massachusetts, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 121 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cambria
The name Cambria has its roots in the Latin word "Cambria," which was the Roman name for the region now known as Wales. It was derived from the Welsh word "Cymry," which means "fellow countrymen" or "compatriots." The name is believed to have originated during the Roman occupation of Britain, which lasted from the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD.
Cambria was used to refer to the region of Wales and its inhabitants, the Britons, who were the Celtic people living in the area at the time. The name is closely tied to the Welsh language and culture, which has a rich history dating back to the 6th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cambria can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who lived in the 2nd century AD. In his work "Geographia," he referred to the region as "Cambrica" or "Cambria."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cambria. One of the earliest recorded was Cambria, a Welsh princess who lived in the 5th century AD and was known for her bravery and leadership during the conflicts between the Britons and the invading Saxons.
Another notable figure was Cambria Merioneth, a 12th-century Welsh noblewoman who played a significant role in the political and cultural life of medieval Wales. She was a patron of the arts and supported the preservation of Welsh literature and traditions.
In the 16th century, Cambria Tudor was a Welsh courtier and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I of England. She was known for her intelligence and wit, and played a important role in the cultural exchange between Wales and England during the Tudor period.
In the 19th century, Cambria Evans was a Welsh writer and educator who worked tirelessly to promote the Welsh language and culture. She published numerous books and articles on Welsh history and literature, and her efforts helped to preserve and celebrate the rich heritage of Wales.
Finally, Cambria Jones was a 20th-century Welsh artist and activist who played a significant role in the Welsh nationalist movement. Her paintings and sculptures often depicted the beauty of the Welsh landscape and celebrated the country's cultural traditions.
While the name Cambria is not as common today as it once was, it remains a powerful reminder of the rich history and cultural heritage of Wales and its people.
People
Cambria + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cambria 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
Cambria: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cambria?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,999 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cambria 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 57,135 US residents.
Is Cambria a common name?
We classify Cambria as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,110 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cambria most popular?
The single biggest year for Cambria was 2012, when 275 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cambria is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cambria in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,902 people with the name Cambria, or 1.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,972 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 Cambria 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 Cambria?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cambria appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,903 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 Cambria?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cambria is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Cambria most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cambria in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (3,463 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 Cambria in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cambria a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cambria 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 Cambria still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cambria 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 Cambria 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 the name Cambria?
See how many people have the name Cambria on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.