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Cailin

#12,149 in 2025Girls' name

Variant of Kaylyn

Cailin has been given to 3,743 babies in the U.S. since 1968. In 2025 it ranked #12,149 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2003, with 164 recorded.

Babies named Cailin, 2025

1 in 474,000

Cailin over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cailin: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Kaylyn

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cailin means

Cailin is a variant of Kaylyn.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Cailin is used in English (Rare).

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈkeɪ.lɪn/ for Cailin.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Kaylyn.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,713 girls were recorded with the name Cailin between 1968 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 164 in 2003; its best national rank was #1,159 in 1998.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,557 in 2020 to #12,149 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,262 in 2015 to #12,149 in 2025.

In the United States, 30 boys were recorded with the name Cailin between 1996 and 2009. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1998; its best national rank was #7,663 in 1998.

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.

How common is Cailin?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 474,000
7 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 230,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#12,149
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
328,272 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cailin sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 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 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cailin. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cailins were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cailin was born before 2001 — so the typical Cailin is around 24 today.

Median birth year
2001
About 24 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
38.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
53.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,713
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 38.4% of all recorded uses (1,425).

Is Cailin 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
−4,490
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−8,592
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−8,887
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.14×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
4.3%
Peak was 2003 (164)
Years since peak
22
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,159
1998

Spellings of Cailin

Cailin is not the most common spelling — Caitlin is, with 21.4% against Cailin's 0.71%.

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.

Where Cailin is used

Across 1910–2025, Cailin was most concentrated in Massachusetts — about 1 in 25,000 girls, against 1 in 68,855 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in —).

04 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Massachusetts1 in 25,000
  2. 2California1 in 33,333
  3. 3Florida1 in 50,000
  4. 4Illinois1 in 50,000
  5. 5New Jersey1 in 50,000
  6. 6New York1 in 50,000
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in 50,000
  8. 8Virginia1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cailin has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Cailin around the world

Where Cailin 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
    1996–2020
    #5,493
    in 2020
  • Scotland
    1996–2011
    #674
    in 2011
  • Northern Ireland
    1997–2018
    #434
    in 2018
  • Ireland
    1977–2023
    #625
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1991–2015
    #1,963
    in 2015
  • South Australia
    1991–2013
    #403
    in 2013

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.

Cailin by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#12,149
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 8,592
Best rank ever
#1,159
1998
Peak year
2003
164 that year
First recorded
1968
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,713
Count in 2025
7

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,663
1998
Peak year
1998
7 that year
First recorded
1996
Last recorded
2009
All-time count
30
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cailin

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

CaileyCailynCaitlinCaileeMaylinKaelinTaylinAshlinCaylinCaitlynnCailaDaylinCailynnCarlinEvelinBerlinMarlinJoselinMadelinJaylinMarylinCairaJoslinRaylin

Names with a curve like Cailin

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Cailin, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

KayleTyannaKayleaAlexiJulisaKalynnKameronJaquelynDeisyJackelynKiarraTyana

Sibling names for Cailin

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 Cailin

Top names of 2003, Cailin's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1998Girls' names starting with C