Caprice
Feminine · “Italian "whim”
Caprice is given to both — 3,383 girls and 180 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Caprice started as fear. Italian capriccio meant a shudder of horror — a head with the hair standing on end, from capo and riccio, hedgehog — and it drifted through sudden movement and unpredictability to arrive at playful whim.
How old is the name Caprice?
Caprice first appears in US birth records in 1949 — 76 years ago. The typical Caprice alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 3,200 people named Caprice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Caprice most popular?
Caprice peaked in 1966, reaching #944 nationally. Today it ranks #7491, 6,547 places below that high. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From capriccio to Caprice
The story of Caprice
The semantic drift is documented in Italian usage: capriccio meant horror or a fit of shivering in the fourteenth century, then a sudden and unaccountable impulse, then a whim, and finally the musical form — a piece in free style, following no fixed structure, which is what Paganini's caprices are. French took caprice in the sixteenth century with the whim sense already dominant, and English took it from French. The goat association attached itself along the way because capra was the obvious guess and because goats do behave capriciously. As an American given name Caprice peaks in 1966.
Meaningscholars disagree
Italian "whim", originally "a shudder"
Two derivations compete. The better-supported one takes capriccio from capo, head, plus riccio, curly or hedgehog — a head with hair standing on end, hence a shudder of fear. The older and more picturesque reading derives it from capra, a goat, from the animal's unpredictable leaping. The goat reading is attractive and probably wrong, though it influenced how the word was later understood.
How the name formed
- capriccio
- caprice
- Caprice
Related forms: Caprice · Capriccia
Pronouncing Caprice
kuh-PREESE
Two syllables, stress on the second, with a hissed final s rather than a z. Italian capriccio is kah-PREE-choh, three syllables with a ch sound.
Nicknames for Caprice
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
- 1949
- Most girls named
- 1966116 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #944reached in 1966
- Change vs 2022
- +55.6%14 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.
Caprice in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caprice in French — same name
- Capriccia in Italian — related form
Caprices among us
people named Caprice are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 114,805 born in 2025 was named Caprice
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 Otha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Caprice's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Otha climbed just as high around 1907, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Otha's path sketches the road Caprice is walking now.
Caprice 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
Caprice beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Caprice in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is a real English word with a documented and surprising history.
- Reese works as a short form and stands alone.
- It is short and read correctly on sight.
- The word means whim, which invites comment about temperament.
- It is also a car model name in America.
- The 1960s peak dates a bearer fairly clearly.
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What they receive
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Caprice
Feminine · #7491 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Caprices are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Caprice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Caprice in 2025?
- Caprice ranks #7491 among US girl names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Caprice?
- About 1 in every 114,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Caprice — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Caprice with classmates?
- Caprice will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Caprice
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Christie#7491 · Carmelita#7491 · Jetta#7491 · Hildegard#7491 · Rickie#7491 · Billy#7491 · Angelyn#7491 · Jewell#7491
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Caprice? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Caprice and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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