Cairo
Feminine · “the victorious”
Cairo is given to both — 584 girls and 9,415 boys since 1880. See Cairo as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Cairo is Arabic for the victorious, and the city was named for the planet Mars — which was rising when the Fatimids laid its foundations in 969.
How old is the name Cairo?
Cairo first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Cairo is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Cairo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cairo most popular?
Cairo peaked in 2019, reaching #2451 nationally. Today it ranks #4067, 1,616 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From al-Qahira to Cairo
The story of Cairo
The Fatimid general Jawhar founded a new capital beside the older Fustat in 969 and named it al-Qahira. The connection to Mars is recorded in the medieval sources: the astrologers were consulted about the founding and the planet's name went to the city. Egyptians call it Masr, the same word as Egypt. Its use as a given name is recent and American, for both sexes.
Meaning
the victorious, the subduer
From Arabic al-Qahira, the victorious or the subduer; the same word was the Arabic name for Mars, al-Najm al-Qahir, the conquering star, which was in the ascendant when the city was founded.
How the name formed
- al-Qahira
- Cairo
Related forms: Al-Qahira · El Cairo
Pronouncing Cairo
KY-roh
Two syllables, first stressed. Arabic al-Qahira shares almost nothing with it.
Nicknames for Cairo
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
- 1994
- Most girls named
- 201972 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2451reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −7.9%35 in 2025, from 38
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.
Cairo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Al-Qahira in Arabic — same name
- El Cairo in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Cairos among us
people named Cairo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 45,922 born in 2025 was named Cairo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cairo
- #4067
- Cairo on the 2025 chart
- #891
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cairo went to 35 girls in 2025, but Kairo is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 69, which makes it the 891st most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,176 places above the chart.
- Cairo35
- Kairo34
About 1 girl in 23,294 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 45,922 for Cairo 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 Nadja test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cairo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nadja climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nadja's path sketches the road Cairo is walking now.
Cairo 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 Cairo is headed
Cairo 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.
Cairo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cairo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely remarkable founding story behind it.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- It is used for both sexes, so forms may guess wrong.
- The English pronunciation bears no relation to the Arabic name.
- Naming a child for a city invites a question about family connection.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Cairo to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Cairo
Feminine · #4067 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cairos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Cairo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Cairo?
- Cairo is the most-used spelling in US records — 35 of the 69 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kairo.
- How popular is the name Cairo in 2025?
- Cairo ranks #4067 among US girl names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cairo?
- About 1 in every 45,922 US girls born in 2025 was named Cairo — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cairo with classmates?
- Cairo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cairo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eli#4067 · Peace#4067 · Medina#4067 · Darlin#4067 · Anja#4067 · Sparrow#4067 · Liani#4067 · Salina#4067
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cairo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cairo and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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