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Cailean

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Possibly pup, youth, trickster

Cailean has been given to 85 babies in the U.S. since 1990. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1995, with 11 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 80% boys, 20% girls all-time.

Babies named Cailean, 2014

1 in 618,000

Cailean over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Cailean over time

In 2014, Cailean went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19902014

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Cailean: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly pup, youth, trickster

Old Irish

What Cailean means

Cailean may mean “pup, youth, trickster”, associated with cuilean.

Origin, language, and formation

Cailean is used in Scottish Gaelic. Its origins include Old Irish.

Cailean comes through Middle Irish Cuilén, Old Irish cuilén and Proto-Celtic *kolignos.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Colin.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Scottish Gaelic, Cailean is pronounced /ˈkʰalan/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 68 boys were recorded with the name Cailean between 1990 and 2014. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1995; its best national rank was #5,163 in 1995.

In the United States, 17 girls were recorded with the name Cailean between 2002 and 2004. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2002; its best national rank was #13,889 in 2002.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Cailean?

Cailean had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2014, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2014
1 in 618,000
6 of 3,706,812 births
Among boys only
1 in 320,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2014
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
428,229 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cailean sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2014 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 428,229 children born in 2014 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cailean. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Caileans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cailean was born before 1996 — so the typical Cailean is around 29 today.

Median birth year
1996
About 29 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
58.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
68
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 58.8% of all recorded uses (40).

Is Cailean rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1995 (11)
Years since peak
30
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
23.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#5,163
1995

Spellings of Cailean

Cailean is not the most common spelling — Caiden is, with 42.0% against Cailean's 0.12%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Cailean around the world

Where Cailean ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #4,275
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1984–2025
    #243
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    1998–2022
    #414
    in 2022
  • Ireland
    1993–2013
    #711
    in 2013
  • Canada
    2007–2007
    #2,479
    in 2007
  • South Australia
    1995–1996
    #540
    in 1996

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Cailean by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,163
1995
Peak year
1995
11 that year
First recorded
1990
Last recorded
2014
All-time count
68
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#13,889
2002
Peak year
2002
6 that year
First recorded
2002
Last recorded
2004
All-time count
17
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cailean

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CaizenFinneanCaisynCaitlynCaizerCailenCaideCaironCairenCaimanCaireeCainonCaidinKyseanCaidanCaimenTraseanCaillouQuaseanCeruleanCainaanRaeseanKayseanDamiean

Sibling names for Cailean

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cailean

Top names of 1995, Cailean's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1995Boys' names starting with C