Cary
Feminine
Cary is given to both — 5,323 girls and 24,504 boys since 1880. See Cary as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Cary is a river in Somerset, a village named after it, and a family named after the village. It is also the name a young English actor was given when a studio decided his own would not do — he picked it off a list, and it became one of the most recognizable names in Hollywood for thirty years.
How old is the name Cary?
Cary first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Cary alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 4,400 people named Cary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cary most popular?
Cary peaked in 1975, reaching #722 nationally. See the whole 1975 chart.
Where it comes from
From Cary to Cary
The story of Cary
Archibald Leach came from Bristol, went to America with an acrobatic troupe, and was told by a studio that his name would not work. The list he was given had Cary Lockwood on it; the surname was already taken and he swapped in Grant. The name he chose had been quietly in American use since the beginning of the records, mostly for boys and sometimes for girls, and it became far more widely used after him. That is a straightforward case of one person moving a name, and the timing in the record shows it.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The River Cary in Somerset gave its name to Castle Cary and Lytes Cary, and families from those places took the surname. British river names are frequently the oldest words on the map, older than English and often older than Celtic, and this one's meaning has not been recovered. A separate Welsh reading connects the name to caru, to love, and an Irish surname O Ciardha is a third possibility.
How the name formed
- Cary
- Cary
Related forms: Ó Ciardha
Pronouncing Cary
KAIR-ee
KAIR-ee, two syllables, stress at the front. Cary, Carey and Carrie are all said identically in most American accents, which is why the three spellings signal different things and sound like nothing.
Nicknames for Cary
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
- 1882
- Most girls named
- 1976183 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #722reached in 1975
- Change vs 2017
- 0.0%5 in 2024, from 5
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.
Cary in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ó Ciardha in Irish — related form
Carys among us
people named Cary are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Cary sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a real English river and village behind it as well as a very famous bearer.
- Two syllables, said correctly by everyone on first sight.
- It works for either child, which the record confirms across its whole history.
- Carey and Carrie are both close and Carrie reads as a woman's name, so the spelling gets misapplied.
- The actor is the first association for anyone over a certain age, and it is a flattering one but a fixed one.
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the last century in America.
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What they receive
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Cary
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Carys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,400 people named Cary are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cary in 2025?
- Cary is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Cary with classmates?
- Cary will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cary? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cary and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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