Cainan
Masculine
Cainan is a name from the genealogies of Genesis, a great-grandson of Adam, and its meaning is one of the genuinely unresolved ones in the Hebrew Bible.
How old is the name Cainan?
Cainan first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Cainan alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 1,000 people named Cainan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cainan most popular?
Cainan peaked in 2016, reaching #2626 nationally. Today it ranks #3513, 887 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Where it comes from
From Kenan to Cainan
The story of Cainan
Kenan appears in the line from Seth to Noah in Genesis and again in the genealogy in Luke, where Greek spells him Kainan. English Bibles have used Cainan and Kenan for the same man, which is why both spellings are in modern use. It appears in American records chiefly among families who take names directly from the genealogies, and it has risen quietly in recent decades.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Hebrew Kenan is of unsettled derivation. Readings offered include possession, from a root meaning to acquire, and smith or metalworker, from a word for a lance; a connection to the Cain of the same chapters has been proposed and disputed. None is established.
How the name formed
- Kenan
- Cainan
Related forms: Kenan · Kainan · Cainán
Pronouncing Cainan
KAY-nan
Two syllables, first stressed. Hebrew Kenan gives keh-NAHN, with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Cainan
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
- 1981
- Most boys named
- 201647 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2626reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- −11.1%32 in 2025, from 36
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.
Cainan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kenan in Hebrew — same name
- Kainan in Greek — transliteration
- Cainán in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Indiana, Ohio.
Cainans among us
people named Cainan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 53,377 born in 2025 was named Cainan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cainan
- #3513
- Cainan on the 2025 chart
- #841
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cainan went to 32 boys in 2025, but Kainan, Kaynan and Caynan are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 87, which makes it the 841st most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,672 places above the chart.
- Cainan32
- Kainan29
- Kaynan18
- Caynan8
About 1 boy in 19,633 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 53,377 for Cainan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Kavan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cainan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kavan climbed just as high around 1995, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kavan's path sketches the road Cainan is walking now.
Cainan 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
Where Cainan is headed
Cainan should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Cainan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cainan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented biblical name with a place in one of the best-known genealogies.
- Six letters and two syllables, easy to write early.
- Read correctly on sight by most English speakers.
- Cain sits inside it, and that is a name with a very heavy story attached.
- Kenan is the standard Hebrew spelling and looks quite different.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown, so the answer has to be an honest short one.
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Cainan
Masculine · #3513 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cainans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Cainan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Cainan?
- Cainan is the most-used spelling in US records — 32 of the 87 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kainan, Kaynan and Caynan.
- How popular is the name Cainan in 2025?
- Cainan ranks #3513 among US boy names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cainan?
- About 1 in every 53,377 US boys born in 2025 was named Cainan — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cainan with classmates?
- Cainan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cainan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bradford#3513 · Denton#3513 · Harden#3513 · Geronimo#3513 · Breon#3513 · Hashem#3513 · Jamere#3513 · Leslie#3513
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cainan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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