Cass
Cass was given to 19 boys in 2025, #5,067 among boys’ names; 1,993 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,550 Americans named Cass and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (78% of everyone recorded); the median is 38 years old and half are between 18 and 56.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Cass by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Cass mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Cass is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
Also “a diminutive of the female given name Cassandra of medieval origin, later also used for Cassidy, Cassiopeia, and Catherine with its variant forms.”
As an English surname, from a pet form of Cassandra.
As an Irish surname, from Ó Cais (“descendant of the curly-haired one”), from cas (“curly”).
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Cass?
#5,067 among boys’ names, 2025
Cass fell from #4,742 in 2015 to #5,067 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 10.4 to 11.1 per million.
43 babies in 1989, the peak
Cass peaked in 1989, when 43 boys were given it, #1,766 among boys’ names. The 19 births of 2025 are 44% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 19 | #5,067 | 11.1 |
| 2024 | 18 | #5,272 | 10.4 |
| 2023 | 16 | #5,694 | 9.4 |
| 2022 | 23 | #4,455 | 13.2 |
| 2021 | 34 | #3,367 | 19.4 |
| 2020 | 24 | #4,158 | 13.9 |
| 2019 | 24 | #4,244 | 13.4 |
| 2018 | 20 | #4,767 | 11.0 |
| 2017 | 28 | #3,785 | 15.1 |
| 2016 | 29 | #3,700 | 15.3 |
Every recorded year (116)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 20 | #4,742 | 10.4 |
| 2014 | 23 | #4,279 | 12.0 |
| 2013 | 11 | #7,107 | 5.8 |
| 2012 | 12 | #6,682 | 6.3 |
| 2011 | 24 | #4,124 | 12.6 |
| 2010 | 30 | #3,546 | 15.6 |
| 2009 | 24 | #4,179 | 12.1 |
| 2008 | 20 | #4,737 | 9.8 |
| 2007 | 19 | #4,833 | 9.2 |
| 2006 | 14 | #5,825 | 6.8 |
| 2005 | 16 | #5,069 | 8.0 |
| 2004 | 16 | #5,043 | 8.1 |
| 2003 | 10 | #6,797 | 5.1 |
| 2002 | 13 | #5,438 | 6.7 |
| 2001 | 13 | #5,418 | 6.7 |
| 2000 | 17 | #4,419 | 8.7 |
| 1999 | 13 | #5,070 | 6.8 |
| 1998 | 15 | #4,441 | 7.8 |
| 1997 | 17 | #3,900 | 9.0 |
| 1996 | 15 | #4,202 | 7.9 |
| 1995 | 14 | #4,304 | 7.4 |
| 1994 | 14 | #4,319 | 7.2 |
| 1993 | 14 | #4,250 | 7.1 |
| 1992 | 19 | #3,344 | 9.5 |
| 1991 | 34 | #2,142 | 16.8 |
| 1990 | 29 | #2,373 | 14.1 |
| 1989 | 43 | #1,766 | 21.5 |
| 1988 | 26 | #2,308 | 13.6 |
| 1987 | 29 | #2,059 | 15.5 |
| 1986 | 31 | #1,926 | 16.8 |
| 1985 | 23 | #2,303 | 12.4 |
| 1984 | 23 | #2,241 | 12.7 |
| 1983 | 29 | #1,866 | 16.2 |
| 1982 | 11 | #3,724 | 6.1 |
| 1981 | 13 | #3,242 | 7.3 |
| 1980 | 14 | #3,118 | 7.8 |
| 1979 | 20 | #2,390 | 11.6 |
| 1978 | 15 | #2,810 | 9.1 |
| 1977 | 19 | #2,377 | 11.6 |
| 1976 | 18 | #2,431 | 11.5 |
| 1975 | 18 | #2,376 | 11.5 |
| 1974 | 10 | #3,353 | 6.4 |
| 1973 | 16 | #2,414 | 10.3 |
| 1972 | 23 | #1,875 | 14.2 |
| 1971 | 32 | #1,529 | 18.1 |
| 1970 | 26 | #1,708 | 14.0 |
| 1969 | 25 | #1,645 | 14.0 |
| 1968 | 12 | #2,461 | 6.9 |
| 1967 | 17 | #1,914 | 9.7 |
| 1966 | 22 | #1,655 | 12.3 |
| 1965 | 15 | #2,099 | 8.1 |
| 1964 | 21 | #1,738 | 10.5 |
| 1963 | 18 | #1,909 | 8.9 |
| 1962 | 22 | #1,715 | 10.6 |
| 1961 | 28 | #1,523 | 13.2 |
| 1960 | 42 | #1,210 | 19.7 |
| 1959 | 24 | #1,629 | 11.2 |
| 1958 | 19 | #1,848 | 9.0 |
| 1957 | 15 | #2,105 | 7.0 |
| 1956 | 11 | #2,515 | 5.2 |
| 1955 | 12 | #2,320 | 5.8 |
| 1954 | 21 | #1,671 | 10.3 |
| 1953 | 22 | #1,638 | 11.2 |
| 1952 | 18 | #1,811 | 9.3 |
| 1951 | 16 | #1,916 | 8.5 |
| 1950 | 12 | #2,230 | 6.7 |
| 1949 | 17 | #1,828 | 9.6 |
| 1948 | 14 | #2,043 | 8.0 |
| 1947 | 5 | #3,796 | 2.7 |
| 1946 | 17 | #1,770 | 10.5 |
| 1945 | 6 | #3,033 | 4.5 |
| 1944 | 7 | #2,901 | 5.1 |
| 1943 | 8 | #2,760 | 5.6 |
| 1942 | 9 | #2,553 | 6.5 |
| 1940 | 6 | #3,182 | 5.2 |
| 1939 | 7 | #2,871 | 6.3 |
| 1938 | 5 | #3,595 | 4.5 |
| 1935 | 7 | #3,002 | 6.7 |
| 1933 | 5 | #3,721 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 5 | #3,852 | 4.8 |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,687 | 8.7 |
| 1930 | 5 | #4,080 | 4.6 |
| 1928 | 5 | #4,244 | 4.5 |
| 1927 | 6 | #3,837 | 5.3 |
| 1926 | 13 | #2,318 | 11.7 |
| 1925 | 8 | #3,187 | 7.2 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,055 | 7.9 |
| 1923 | 12 | #2,467 | 10.9 |
| 1922 | 10 | #2,835 | 9.2 |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,513 | 10.9 |
| 1920 | 6 | #3,890 | 5.6 |
| 1919 | 7 | #3,451 | 7.1 |
| 1918 | 11 | #2,571 | 10.9 |
| 1917 | 12 | #2,305 | 13.0 |
| 1916 | 15 | #1,971 | 16.9 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,330 | 13.0 |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,331 | 7.6 |
| 1913 | 5 | #2,890 | 9.8 |
| 1912 | 7 | #2,079 | 16.3 |
| 1910 | 6 | #1,446 | 30.9 |
| 1906 | 5 | #1,272 | 37.6 |
| 1904 | 7 | #982 | 54.6 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,345 | 33.2 |
| 1897 | 6 | #961 | 53.2 |
| 1884 | 6 | #871 | 52.4 |
| 1881 | 7 | #718 | 69.5 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Cass a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,993 Americans recorded as Cass, 7% are girls and 93% boys. In 2025 it went to 19 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Cass: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Cass, and how old are they?
1,550 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 78% of the 1,993 Americans ever recorded as Cass. The median Cass alive today is 38 years old; half are between 18 and 56.
The 2020 Census counted 2,085 people named Cass (659 women and girls, 1,426 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,489 born in the U.S. The Census count is 40% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 18 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 266 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 316 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 384 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 274 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 292 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 5,089 babies since 1880, Cass is the second most given (39% of them). In 2025 it was given to 19 of their 311 babies (6.1%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Cass
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Clay | 40,525 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Cass and names like it
- Compare Cass and CaiusBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sCass peaked in 1989.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Cass since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Cass: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1989The year the most babies were named Cass.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Cass alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with CMost given first.