Caedmon
Masculine
The first named English poet was a cowherd who could not sing. Bede says Caedmon left feasts to avoid his turn with the harp, and then received the gift in a dream at Whitby around 680. His hymn is the oldest surviving poem in English.
How old is the name Caedmon?
Caedmon first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Caedmon alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 900 people named Caedmon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Caedmon most popular?
Caedmon peaked in 2010, reaching #1834 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 7,880 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Caedmon
Bede tells the story in the Ecclesiastical History, finished in 731. Caedmon worked with the animals at the monastery of Streanaeshalch, now Whitby, under the abbess Hild. At feasts the harp was passed round and each man sang; Caedmon always left before it reached him. One night he went to the cattle shed, slept, and dreamed that someone told him to sing of creation. He did, woke remembering the verses, and was brought to Hild, who tested him and admitted him to the monastery. He spent the rest of his life turning scripture into English verse. Nine lines of the hymn survive, copied into manuscripts of Bede from the eighth century onward, and they are the earliest English poetry we have. His name appears to be British rather than English, which is itself a small piece of evidence about who was living in Northumbria.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Caedmon is an Old English name of uncertain origin, generally taken as Brittonic rather than Germanic and compared to Welsh elements meaning battle and man, which would make the first English poet a man with a British name. The derivation is not established. The American peak is 2010.
Pronouncing Caedmon
KAD-mun
Two syllables, stress on the first. The ae represents an Old English letter, the ash, said as the a of cat. Americans often say KAYD-mun instead.
Nicknames for Caedmon
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1999
- Most boys named
- 201079 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1834reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- −22.2%7 in 2025, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Caedmon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cedmon in English — spelling variant
- Kaedmon in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Caedmons among us
people named Caedmon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Caedmon
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Christon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Caedmon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Christon climbed just as high around 1985, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Christon's path sketches the road Caedmon is walking now.
Caedmon sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Caedmon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Caedmon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Cade works as a short form and is a name in its own right.
- It carries a specific and well-documented literary history.
- Two syllables with a firm first-syllable stress.
- The ae digraph is unfamiliar and will be misread.
- The first vowel is said two ways.
- The name's own meaning is genuinely unknown.
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What they receive
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Caedmon
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Caedmons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Caedmon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Caedmon in 2025?
- Caedmon ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Caedmon?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Caedmon — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Caedmon with classmates?
- Caedmon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Caedmon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Caedmon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Caedmon and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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