Cavan
Irish masculine name of Celtic derivation meaning "winding river or path".
Name Census estimates that about 1,650 living Americans carry the first name Cavan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cavan today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cavan births was 2008 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cavan. 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 Cavan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 207,730 Americans
Peak year
2008
77 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,202
Tracked since 1969
Census
Cavan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,467 people with the first name Cavan, which placed it at #9,461 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
#9,461
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,467 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cavan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cavan is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Cavan 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 Cavan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 1,157
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 88
- Two or more races6.0% · 88
- Black or African American5.1% · 75
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 10
Popularity
Cavan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cavan from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 585 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
Cavan 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 Cavan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cavans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Cavan, while Wisconsin, Washington, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cavan
The name Cavan is an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name "Cabhán" which means "hollow" or "cavern". The name has its origins in the ancient Gaelic language spoken in Ireland, which dates back to the 4th century AD. It is believed to have been derived from the Old Irish word "cúan" meaning "harbor" or "bay".
The name Cavan is closely associated with County Cavan in Ireland, which takes its name from the Irish "Cabhán" meaning "the hollow". This area in the northern part of the country is known for its many lakes and drumlins, which are small hills formed during the last ice age. The name Cavan likely refers to the hollows or depressions in the landscape of this region.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Cavan dates back to the 7th century AD, when it was used to refer to a local saint and bishop known as St. Cavan or St. Cavan of Leinster. He is believed to have lived in the area that is now County Cavan and is the patron saint of the town of Cavan.
In medieval times, the name Cavan was also used as a surname, particularly in County Cavan and surrounding areas. One notable historical figure with this name was Cavan O'Reilly, an Irish chieftain and lord of Cavan who lived in the 16th century.
Another famous bearer of the name Cavan was the Irish writer and poet Austin Clarke, whose full name was Austin Norman Cavan Clarke (1896-1974). He was born in Dublin and is considered one of the leading literary figures of the Irish literary renaissance.
In the realm of sports, the name Cavan is associated with Cavan Biggio, a professional baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays. He was born in 1995 and is the son of former Major League Baseball player Craig Biggio.
Additionally, Cavan Grogan was an Irish actor and singer who appeared in several films and television shows in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in 1942 and passed away in 1999.
Overall, the name Cavan has a rich history and cultural significance, rooted in the ancient Gaelic language and landscape of Ireland. It has been borne by saints, writers, actors, and athletes throughout history, reflecting its enduring appeal and connection to Irish heritage.
People
Cavan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cavan 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
Cavan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cavan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,650 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cavan 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 207,730 US residents.
Is Cavan a common name?
We classify Cavan as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,681 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cavan most popular?
The single biggest year for Cavan was 2008, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cavan is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cavan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,467 people with the name Cavan, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,461 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 Cavan 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 Cavan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cavan leans strongly male. 1,422 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 42 female bearers (2.9%). 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 Cavan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cavan is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Cavan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cavan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (1,157 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 Cavan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cavan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cavan 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 Cavan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cavan 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 Cavan 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 Cavan?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Cavan, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.