Cordy
Diminutive form of the name Cordelia, derived from French cor meaning "heart".
Name Census estimates that about 39 living Americans carry the first name Cordy. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Cordy today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cordy births was 1955 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cordy. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cordy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
39
~ 1 in 8,788,573 Americans
Peak year
1955
8 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1981 SSA rank
#4,447
Tracked since 1909
Census
Cordy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 222 people with the first name Cordy, which placed it at #35,960 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
#35,960
National first-name rank
People counted
222
222 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cordy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordy is White at 46.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.1%) and Hispanic (18.5%). 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 Cordy 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 Cordy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.8% · 104
- Black or African American26.1% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino18.5% · 41
- Two or more races5.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Cordy
Cordy is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 73 total registrations, 32 (43.8%) were male and 41 (56.2%) were female.
Cordy as a male name
- Ranked #6,464 in 1981
- 5 male births in 1981
- Peak: 1972 (7 births)
Cordy as a female name
- Ranked #4,447 in 1955
- 8 female births in 1955
- Peak: 1955 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cordy on both sides of the split. Of the 221 people counted with this name, 117 were male (52.9%) and 104 were female (47.1%).
Popularity
Cordy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cordy from the 1900s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 23 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cordy 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 Cordy 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 Cordy
The name Cordy is believed to have originated from the ancient Greek word "kordyle," which means "club" or "cudgel." It is thought to have been derived from the Greek word "kordu," meaning "to beat" or "to strike." This suggests that the name may have been associated with strength, power, or perhaps even violence in its earliest usage.
In ancient times, the name Cordy was primarily found in regions with Greek cultural influence, such as parts of modern-day Greece, Turkey, and Italy. It is possible that the name was also used in other areas where Greek settlers or traders established communities.
While no definitive references to the name Cordy have been found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is worth noting that the similar name Cordelia appears in William Shakespeare's play "King Lear." Cordelia was the name of Lear's youngest daughter, who was portrayed as a virtuous and loyal character.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Cordy was Cordy Simpson, a Scottish merchant who lived in the late 17th century. He was known for his involvement in the ill-fated Darien scheme, an attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to establish a colony on the Isthmus of Panama.
In the 19th century, Cordy Tindall Burges (1787-1862) was a notable British architect who designed several churches and other buildings in London and the surrounding areas. He was particularly known for his work in the Gothic Revival style.
Another individual with this name was Cordy Tindall "C.T." Vivian (1909-1999), an American lawyer and civil rights activist from Louisiana. He played a significant role in the desegregation of public schools in Baton Rouge and was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.
Cordy Millar (1914-2012) was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1949 to 1958, representing the riding of Battleford-Kindersley in Saskatchewan.
Finally, Cordy Ryman (born 1971) is a contemporary American artist known for his abstract sculptural works made from materials like wood, acrylic, and enamel paint. His works have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and internationally.
People
Cordy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cordy 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
Cordy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cordy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 39 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cordy 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 8,788,573 US residents.
Is Cordy a common name?
We classify Cordy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 73 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cordy most popular?
The single biggest year for Cordy was 1955, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cordy is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cordy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 222 people with the name Cordy, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,960 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 Cordy 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 Cordy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cordy on both sides of the split. Of the 221 people counted with this name, 117 were male (52.9%) and 104 were female (47.1%). 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 Cordy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordy is White at 46.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.1%) and Hispanic (18.5%). 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 Cordy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cordy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.8% (104 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 Cordy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cordy a female name?
Yes, 56.2% of people registered as Cordy 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 Cordy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cordy 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 Cordy 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 Cordy?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Cordy at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.