Cesar
Masculine · “from the Roman cognomen Caesar”
Cesar is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 78,824 boys against 315 girls since 1880.
Cesar is the Spanish form of a Roman family name that outgrew the family: Caesar became the title of emperors, and from it came the German Kaiser and the Russian tsar. Two syllables, no silent letters, and instantly recognizable in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian alike. Few names have been in continuous use for so long.
How old is the name Cesar?
Cesar first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Cesar alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 75,500 people named Cesar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cesar most popular?
Cesar peaked in 2004, reaching #158 nationally. Today it ranks #385, 227 places below that high. See the whole 2004 chart.
Cesar appears on these lists:
- Spanish and Latin names with warmth
- Latin American and Caribbean names
- Trailblazer names worth carrying
- Names ending in -ar
- all guides
Works in Spanish & Latino families too:
Where it comes from
From Caesar to Cesar
The story of Cesar
The name began as a cognomen in the Roman gens Julia, and its most famous bearer, the general and dictator Gaius Julius Caesar, made it something larger than a name. His heirs took it as a title, and by the time the Roman world had split and reformed, 'Caesar' had become the word for a supreme ruler — surviving as Kaiser in German and tsar in Russian. As a given name it settled into the Romance languages as César and Cesare, and it traveled from Spain into the Americas, where it has been carried by Spanish-speaking families for generations. In the United States its strongest presence is in California, Texas and Arizona.
Meaningscholars disagree
from the Roman cognomen Caesar, of disputed meaning
Roman writers themselves argued about it. The best-supported reading links it to Latin caesaries, 'head of hair'. Pliny connected it instead to caedere, 'to cut', from a birth by cutting — the source of the term caesarean. A third line proposes a non-Latin, possibly Etruscan or Punic, root. None has won.
How the name formed
- Caesar
- César
- Cesar
Related forms: César · César · César · Cesare · Cezar · Cezary
Pronouncing Cesar
SEE-zar (English) / SEH-sar (Spanish)
English speakers usually say SEE-zar, as in the Roman name. In Spanish it is SEH-sar with the stress on the first syllable, spelled César with an accent. Both are correct for this spelling; families with roots in both languages often hear both, and the name survives it.
Nicknames for Cesar
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 20052,522 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #158reached in 2004
- Change vs 2023
- −6.8%824 in 2025, from 884
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.
Cesar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- César in Spanish — spelling variant
- César in Portuguese — spelling variant
- César in French — spelling variant
- Cesare in Italian — same name
- Cezar in Romanian — same name
- Cezary in Polish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Arizona.
Cesars among us
people named Cesar are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,073 born in 2025 was named Cesar
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 Kerry test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cesar's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kerry climbed just as high around 1960, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kerry's path sketches the road Cesar is walking now.
Cesar 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 Cesar is headed
Cesar should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Cesar beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cesar in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the same way across Spanish, Portuguese and French — only the accent moves.
- Recognized on sight almost anywhere in the Western world, thanks to the Roman name behind it.
- Short, two syllables, no silent letters or doubled consonants to explain.
- A documented record stretching back more than two thousand years, with no gap in use.
- The accent is the recurring problem: César in Spanish, Cesar on most American forms. Expect it to be added, dropped, or lost by a computer system, and decide early which version you consider official.
- Pronunciation shifts by language — SEE-zar in English, SEH-sar in Spanish. Bilingual families usually let both stand, but it means introducing the name twice in some rooms.
- The Julius Caesar association is permanent, and it brings the Caesar salad and the Caesar haircut with it. Mild teasing material at most; the name has carried it for centuries without wearing thin.
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What they receive
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Cesar
Masculine · #385 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cesars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 75,500 people named Cesar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cesar in 2025?
- Cesar ranks #385 among US boy names in 2025, with 824 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cesar?
- About 1 in every 2,073 US boys born in 2025 was named Cesar — 824 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cesar with classmates?
- Cesar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cesar
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Khalil#384 · Baylor#386 · Stephen#383 · Fernando#387 · Elio#388 · Winston#381 · Lawson#381 · Kieran#389
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cesar? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cesar and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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