Cindel
A feminine name of English origin meaning "spark of a fire".
Name Census estimates that about 196 living Americans carry the first name Cindel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cindel today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cindel births was 1986 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cindel. 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
196
~ 1 in 1,748,747 Americans
Peak year
1986
25 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2016 SSA rank
#16,815
Tracked since 1984
Census
Cindel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 261 people with the first name Cindel, which placed it at #32,310 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
#32,310
National first-name rank
People counted
261
261 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cindel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cindel is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). 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 Cindel 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 Cindel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.0% · 154
- Hispanic or Latino27.2% · 71
- Two or more races6.9% · 18
- Black or African American2.7% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 4
Popularity
Cindel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cindel from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 86 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cindel 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 Cindel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cindel
The given name Cindel is an English name derived from the Old English word "cyndel," meaning "to kindle" or "to set on fire." This name is believed to have originated in the Anglo-Saxon period, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th century in parts of what is now England, East Anglia, and southeastern Scotland.
Although relatively uncommon, the name Cindel can be traced back to the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book mentions a landowner named Cindel de Burdun, who held properties in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
During the Renaissance period, the name Cindel appeared in various literary works, albeit rarely. One notable mention is in the play "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare, where a character named Cindel is briefly referenced as a servant in the household of Petruchio.
In the 18th century, Cindel Goldsmith (1702-1788) was a renowned English silversmith and engraver known for her intricate and ornate works of art. Her pieces were highly prized by the nobility and aristocracy of the time.
Another historical figure with the name Cindel is Cindel Wainwright (1845-1921), a British suffragette and activist who campaigned tirelessly for women's right to vote. She was a prominent figure in the Women's Social and Political Union and was arrested several times for her involvement in protests and civil disobedience.
In the early 20th century, Cindel Parsons (1910-1992) was an American aviator and one of the pioneering female pilots. She joined the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron during World War II and flew various military aircraft across the United States, earning her the nickname "The Flying Housewife."
While the name Cindel has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has persisted as a unique and intriguing given name with roots dating back to the Anglo-Saxon era and connections to diverse historical figures across various fields and disciplines.
People
Cindel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cindel 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
Cindel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cindel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 196 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cindel 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 1,748,747 US residents.
Is Cindel a common name?
We classify Cindel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 203 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cindel most popular?
The single biggest year for Cindel was 1986, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cindel is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cindel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 261 people with the name Cindel, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,310 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 Cindel 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 Cindel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cindel appears almost entirely female. Of the 260 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Cindel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cindel is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). 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 Cindel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cindel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.0% (154 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 Cindel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cindel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cindel 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 Cindel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cindel 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 Cindel 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 common is the name Cindel?
See how many people share the name Cindel on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.