Cailin

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Cailin: Recorded since 1977, it reached #213 in 1998, and it stood at #5,493 in 2020.

3registrars recorded it
51times a registrar ranked it
44years from first to last
#213highest recorded position
13groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2020

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#3795
1997	#2152
1998	#2701
1999	#2444
2000	#2167
2001	#3262
2002	#1372
2003	#1722
2004	#1459
2005	#1934
2006	#2137
2008	#2150
2009	#2148
2010	#3156
2011	#5785
2012	#3285
2013	#4739
2016	#4096
2019	#5591
2020	#5493

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 · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 21 of the 41 years from 1977 to 2017.

In 2016: #661 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #4096 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1977–2020 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1977
First recorded at #518 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1977 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1997–2018
Highest recorded position: #213 among girls in Northern Ireland, in 1998 (recorded 1997–2018).
Northern Ireland · Girls
Most recent2020
Most recently recorded at #5493 among girls in England and Wales, in 2020.
England and Wales · Girls

Cailin appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Girls, which has ranked it in 21 years beginning in 1977, and has registered 93 births with the name.

Cailin 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.

Cailin'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
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#518 (1977)	#356 (1996)	#734 (2017)	21 of 41	93 (1977–2017)	7 (1996)
England and Wales · Girls	#3795 (1996)	#1372 (2002)	#5493 (2020)	20 of 25	147 (1996–2020)	15 (2004)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#314 (1997)	#213 (1998)	#434 (2018)	9 of 22	34 (1997–2018)	7 (1998)

Cailin by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

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 Cailin in Republic of Ireland · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1970s	3	1 of 10	3
1980s	7	2 of 10	4
1990sbusiest	27	6 of 10	5
2000s	28	6 of 10	5
2010s	28	6 of 10	5

Across Republic of Ireland · Girls, the 1990s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 5 births a year.

See the names Republic of Irelandhas recorded the most births with →

Cailin 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 3 regions, from 1977 to 2020. Highest recorded position: #213 in Northern Ireland in 1998.

Cailin'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
2020	England and Wales	female	#5493	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#5591	3	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#4096	5	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#4739	4	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#4685	3	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#3285	7	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#5785	3	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#3156	7	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#2148	11	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#2150	11	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#2137	10	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#1934	11	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#1459	15	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#1722	11	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#1372	14	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#3262	4	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#2167	7	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#2444	6	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#2701	5	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#2152	7	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#3795	3	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#434	3	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	female	#430	3	High	Verified
2009	Northern Ireland	female	#364	4	High	Verified
2007	Northern Ireland	female	#413	3	High	Verified
2003	Northern Ireland	female	#331	3	High	Verified
2002	Northern Ireland	female	#286	4	High	Verified
2000	Northern Ireland	female	#348	3	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	female	#213	7	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	female	#314	4	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#734	4	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#661	5	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#752	4	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#587	6	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	female	#798	4	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	female	#663	5	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#641	5	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#665	5	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	female	#764	3	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	female	#689	3	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#403	7	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	female	#413	5	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	female	#439	4	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	female	#394	6	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	female	#356	7	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	female	#516	3	High	Verified
1994	Republic of Ireland	female	#450	4	High	Verified
1992	Republic of Ireland	female	#523	3	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	female	#445	4	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	female	#519	3	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	female	#518	3	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

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1977 and 2020, ranked in 30 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #213, first reached in 1998.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 15 births, registered in England and Wales in 2004.

Its record falls into 6 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 7 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 20 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.

Cailan · #605, 24y
Cailean · #243, 22y
Cailum · #271, 19y
Cailyn · #444, 15y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 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.

Tallulah · #213, 29y
Cai · #214, 29y
Fionnan · #211, 34y
Haydn · #215, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1970 and 1979.

Davin · #213, 43y
Dwane · #213, 13y
Juliane · #212, 40y
Padhraic · #212, 19y

Cailin was ranked #213 in Northern Ireland · Girls in 1998. 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.

Cailin 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 Cailin without appearing here.

Cailin moved ahead of

Fionn Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3262 and #3262 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #1372 and #4137.
Jeanette Compare
In 2011 they stood at #5785 and #4049 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #3285 and #5876.
Lynette Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3262 and #3262 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #1372 and #3409.
Rian Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3262 and #2466 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #1372 and #3409.

Moved ahead of Cailin

Blake Compare
In 2010 they stood at #2148 and #3936 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #5785 and #2893.
Ezra Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4739 and #5742 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #4096 and #1689.
Cecilie Compare
In 2019 they stood at #4739 and #5742 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #5493 and #3117.
Meabh Compare
In 2012 they stood at #3285 and #5876 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #4739 and #2887.

Moved the opposite way to Cailin

Abigail Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 while Abigail went from #262 to #62.
Aimee Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 while Aimee went from #429 to #172.
Alexandra Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 while Alexandra went from #283 to #111.
Alice Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 while Alice went from #141 to #35.

Moved the same way as Cailin

Alma Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 and Alma from #240 to #579.
Audrey Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 and Audrey from #64 to #471.
Camilla Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 and Camilla from #369 to #651.
Eileen Compare
Between 1977 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Cailin went from #518 to #734 and Eileen from #63 to #396.

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 3 regions, from 1977 to 2020. Highest recorded position: #213 in Northern Ireland in 1998. Source data last verified 2026-07-22.

Cailin

Cailin at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Cailin across 3 official records

Cailin by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Cailin appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Cailin

Cailin and the names beside it

Cailin moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cailin

Moved the opposite way to Cailin

Moved the same way as Cailin

Cailin at a glance

Cailin across 3 official records

Cailin by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Cailin appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Cailin

Cailin and the names beside it

Cailin moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cailin

Moved the opposite way to Cailin

Moved the same way as Cailin