Cailean

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Cailean: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Cailean: Recorded since 1993, it reached #243 in 2001, and it stood at #478 in 2024.

4registrars recorded it
33times a registrar ranked it
32years from first to last
#243highest recorded position
8groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2863
1997	#2859
1999	#1850
2001	#3134
2004	#3651
2007	#3589
2009	#4527
2010	#2629
2014	#3895
2015	#4747
2017	#4812
2018	#4749
2022	#4001
2024	#4270

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 14 of the 29 years from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #478 among boys in Scotland, #4270 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1993–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1993
First recorded at #275 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1993 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1998–2022
Highest recorded position: #243 among boys in Northern Ireland, in 2001 (recorded 1998–2022).
Northern Ireland · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #4270 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Cailean appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, with 14 ranked years and 53 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Boys, from 1993.

Cailean across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Cailean's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#2863 (1996)	#1850 (1999)	#4270 (2024)	14 of 29	53 (1996–2024)	7 (2010)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#272 (1998)	#243 (2001)	#414 (2022)	9 of 25	30 (1998–2022)	5 (2008)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#275 (1993)	#275 (1993)	#711 (2013)	9 of 21	34 (1993–2013)	5 (1993)

Cailean by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Cailean in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	12	3 of 10	4
2000s	13	4 of 10	3
2010sbusiest	20	5 of 10	4
2020s	8	2 of 10	4

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 4 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Cailean appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1993 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #243 in Northern Ireland in 2001.

Cailean's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#4270	4	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#4001	4	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#4749	3	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#4812	3	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#4747	3	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#3895	4	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#2629	7	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#4527	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#3589	4	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#3651	3	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#3134	3	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#1850	6	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#2859	3	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#2863	3	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	male	#414	3	High	Verified
2012	Northern Ireland	male	#403	3	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	male	#387	3	High	Verified
2008	Northern Ireland	male	#291	5	High	Verified
2007	Northern Ireland	male	#357	3	High	Verified
2006	Northern Ireland	male	#341	3	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	male	#243	4	High	Verified
1999	Northern Ireland	male	#277	3	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	male	#272	3	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#711	3	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	male	#616	4	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#730	3	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	male	#720	3	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#532	5	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	male	#493	4	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	male	#506	3	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	male	#301	4	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	male	#275	5	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#478	6	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1993 and 2024, ranked in 22 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #243, first reached in 2001.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 7 births, registered in England and Wales in 2010.

Its record falls into 8 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 3 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 31 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Caila · #330, 9y
Cailan · #605, 24y
Cailin · #213, 30y
Cailum · #271, 19y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Agne · #243, 22y
Matheus · #243, 27y
Ozzy · #243, 26y
Isla-Rose · #241, 18y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Deon · #243, 29y
Eimile · #243, 13y
Inayah · #243, 30y
Kain · #243, 29y

Cailean was ranked #243 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 2001. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Cailean and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Cailean without appearing here.

Cailean moved ahead of

Kerry Compare
In 2009 they stood at #3589 and #3589 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2010 that had become #2629 and #4678.
Espen Compare
In 2023 they stood at #4001 and #3449 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #4270 and #5119.
Glenn Compare
In 2023 they stood at #4749 and #3412 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #4270 and #5119.
Graham Compare
In 2023 they stood at #4001 and #2165 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #4270 and #5119.

Moved ahead of Cailean

Arlo Compare
In 2000 they stood at #1850 and #2943 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #3134 and #1949.
Kasper Compare
In 2000 they stood at #1850 and #2425 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #3134 and #1949.
Harper Compare
In 2000 they stood at #1850 and #2425 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #3134 and #2587.
Caleb Compare
In 2003 they stood at #301 and #334 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2004 that had become #506 and #167.

Moved the opposite way to Cailean

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 while Albie went from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 while Alfie went from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 while Alfred went from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 while Archie went from #192 to #10.

Moved the same way as Cailean

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 and Aaron from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 and Adam from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 and Alan from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Cailean went from #2863 to #4270 and Alex from #43 to #171.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1993 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #243 in Northern Ireland in 2001. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Cailean

Cailean at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Cailean across 3 official records

Cailean by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cailean appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Cailean

Cailean and the names beside it

Cailean moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cailean

Moved the opposite way to Cailean

Moved the same way as Cailean

Cailean at a glance

Cailean across 3 official records

Cailean by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cailean appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Cailean

Cailean and the names beside it

Cailean moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cailean

Moved the opposite way to Cailean

Moved the same way as Cailean