Mostly boys · peaked in 1966
Cary name popularity since 1925
28,465 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Cary (17.7% girls, 82.3% boys). Half of them were born in 1964 or earlier, so the typical Cary is about 62 years old in 2026. Cary peaked in 1966 as the #264 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 28,465
- Named Cary, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,676 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 82.3% boys
- 5,042 girls · 23,423 boys
- Most popular in
- Illinois
- 1.57× its national share
Peak year is the year Cary made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Cary births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1957. Measured as a share of all babies, Cary peaked in 1966.
- Fastest rise: Between 1952 and 1957, Cary became 1.5× more common, from 1 in 4,210 baby boys to 1 in 2,740.
- Steepest fall: Between 1975 and 1980, its share of baby boys fell by 53%, from 1 in 4,340 to 1 in 9,150.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Cary's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Cary.
Decade by decade
Babies named Cary in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 72 | 237 | – |
| 1930s | 140 | 666 | #792 |
| 1940s | 267 | 2,807 | #387 |
| 1950s | 853 | 5,460 | #335 |
| 1960s | 1,053 | 7,047 | #286 |
| 1970s | 1,612 | 3,599 | #405 |
| 1980s | 642 | 1,783 | #625 |
| 1990s | 267 | 1,004 | #1,245 |
| 2000s | 87 | 360 | #3,329 |
| 2010s | 44 | 285 | #3,443 |
| 2020–25 | 5 | 175 | #3,676 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
42.9% of babies named Cary from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Cary is most popular
The index compares Cary's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Cary.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 1.57× | 1,681 |
| Oklahoma | 1.51× | 432 |
| Virginia | 1.49× | 738 |
| Indiana | 1.45× | 756 |
| Louisiana | 1.44× | 570 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Cary and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Cary (this page) | 23,423 | 1966 |
| Carey | 15,558 | 1957 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Cary's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Cary.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Cary (1966).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data