Cary

First Name
30k
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
12k
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
Boys
First
Last
On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Cary
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Cary
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Ethnicity Distribution
  9. Fun Facts
  10. What Carys Have Visited This Page?
  11. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Cary

  • Automated Male (English)
    Is this an accurate pronunciation?
  • Automated Female (English)
    Is this an accurate pronunciation?
How difficult is it to pronounce Cary?
Back to Top

Meaning and Origin

What does the name Cary mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Cary

"Cary" is a name of English origin, and it means "Pure". It's a name commonly given to both boys and girls.

Wiktionary
  1. A surname, a less common spelling of Carey.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surnames.
  3. A diminutive of the female given name Caroline.
  4. The name of several towns in the United States:
    1. Cary, Illinois
    2. Cary Plantation, Maine
    3. Cary, Mississippi
    4. Cary, North Carolina
    5. Cary, Wisconsin
Back to Top

Notable Persons Named Cary

Cary Grant

Cary Grant was an actor. He was most prominent from 1922 to 1966. Cary was given the name Archibald Alexander Leach on January 18th, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, England. Cary is also known as Archie Leach. He died on November 29th, 1986.

Popularity:
Cary Elwes

Cary Elwes is an actor and author. He has been prominent since 1979. Cary was given the name Ivan Simon Cary Elwes by his parents Dominick Elwes and Tessa Kennedy on October 26th, 1962 in Westminster, London, England.

Popularity:
Cary Fukunaga

Cary Fukunaga is a director, writer, cinematographer, and film director. He was most active from 2003 to present. Cary was given the name Cary Joji Fukunaga on July 10th, 1977 in Oakland, California, US.

Popularity:
Cary Stayner

Cary Stayner is a criminal. Cary is also known as The Yosemite Killer and The Yosemite (Park) Killer.

Popularity:
Cary Guffey

Cary Guffey is a child actor. His ongoing career started in 1977. Cary was born on May 10th, 1972 in Douglasville, Georgia.

Popularity:
Cary Kolat

Cary was born on May 19th, 1973 in Pennsylvania.

Popularity:
Back to Top

Notable Persons With the Last Name Cary

Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, lawyer, and publishing. Mary was given the name Mary Ann Shadd on October 9th, 1823 in Wilmington, Delaware. She breathed her last breath on June 5th, 1893.

Popularity:
Diana Serra Cary

Diana Serra Cary is an actress, author, and historian. She was most active from 1921 to 1938. Diana was given the name Peggy-Jean Montgomery on October 29th, 1918 in San Diego, California, U.S. Diana is also known as Baby Peggy, Baby Peggy Montgomery, Peggy Montgomery, and Peggy-Jean Montgomery.

Popularity:
Alexander Cary

Alexander Cary is a television writer and producer. Alexander was given the name Lucius Alexander Plantagenet Cary by his parents Lucius Cary and 15th Viscount Falkland on February 1st, 1963 in Hammersmith.

Popularity:
Claiborne Cary

Claiborne Cary was an actress, cabaret performer, and actor. She was most prominent from 1956 to 2000. Claiborne was given the name Claiborne Leachman on February 17th, 1932. Claiborne is also known as Leachman and Claiborne. She died on March 20th, 2010.

Popularity:
Caitlin Cary

Caitlin Cary is a country music musician. She plays Violin and Vocals. Her ongoing career started in 1994. Caitlin was born Caitlin Cary on October 28th, 1968.

Popularity:
Kate Cary

Kate Cary is a fantasy writer. Kate was born on November 4th, 1967.

Popularity:
Back to Top

How popular is the baby name Cary in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born
1880 17 0 17
1881 12 0 12
1882 20 7 13
1883 10 0 10
1884 9 0 9
1885 17 0 17
1886 13 0 13
1887 9 0 9
1888 16 0 16
1889 16 5 11
1890 16 7 9
1891 8 0 8
1892 11 0 11
1893 22 6 16
1894 18 0 18
1895 17 6 11
1896 21 0 21
1897 17 6 11
1898 15 5 10
1899 8 0 8
1900 17 5 12
1901 10 0 10
1902 12 0 12
1903 21 12 9
1904 17 5 12
1905 21 8 13
1906 16 0 16
1907 20 6 14
1908 18 5 13
1909 29 5 24
1910 31 8 23
1911 21 0 21
1912 32 12 20
1913 39 11 28
1914 42 10 32
1915 65 12 53
1916 56 14 42
1917 70 14 56
1918 71 21 50
1919 78 21 57
1920 73 12 61
1921 87 12 75
1922 73 13 60
1923 76 17 59
1924 75 16 59
1925 71 19 52
1926 51 9 42
1927 74 19 55
1928 56 12 44
1929 57 13 44
1930 64 11 53
1931 55 8 47
1932 59 15 44
1933 68 14 54
1934 70 12 58
1935 76 15 61
1936 102 22 80
1937 81 8 73
1938 114 15 99
1939 117 20 97
1940 155 21 134
1941 186 11 175
1942 226 19 207
1943 289 29 260
1944 273 24 249
1945 258 21 237
1946 335 30 305
1947 391 34 357
1948 470 34 436
1949 491 44 447
1950 483 40 443
1951 483 41 442
1952 513 51 462
1953 481 75 406
1954 581 72 509
1955 572 81 491
1956 680 125 555
1957 899 113 786
1958 713 127 586
1959 905 127 778
1960 879 118 761
1961 747 121 626
1962 892 107 785
1963 884 119 765
1964 824 75 749
1965 767 78 689
1966 834 72 762
1967 740 111 629
1968 787 124 663
1969 751 129 622
1970 725 155 570
1971 729 186 543
1972 567 156 411
1973 539 154 385
1974 483 177 306
1975 563 204 359
1976 509 183 326
1977 435 165 270
1978 362 131 231
1979 298 101 197
1980 279 84 195
1981 283 97 186
1982 253 76 177
1983 239 82 157
1984 244 65 179
1985 261 64 197
1986 227 45 182
1987 217 40 177
1988 202 41 161
1989 219 47 172
1990 204 47 157
1991 176 34 142
1992 156 31 125
1993 138 25 113
1994 129 24 105
1995 109 22 87
1996 92 27 65
1997 104 23 81
1998 99 18 81
1999 63 16 47
2000 72 19 53
2001 62 13 49
2002 42 8 34
2003 39 0 39
2004 45 11 34
2005 44 14 30
2006 27 0 27
2007 43 8 35
2008 41 7 34
2009 32 7 25
2010 31 7 24
2011 38 9 29
2012 32 5 27
2013 28 6 22
2014 28 7 21
2015 32 0 32
2016 35 0 35
2017 36 5 31
Back to Top

Where is the name Cary popular?

View popular names by state or region.

Popularity of Cary as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Cary as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Alabama, Oklahoma, or Virginia.

Popularity of Cary as a last name

The map shows the absolute popularity of the name Cary as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in New York, California, or Illinois.

Back to Top

Common last names for Cary

  • Smith
  • Williams
  • Johnson
  • Jones
  • Jackson
  • White
  • Davis
  • Wilson
  • Miller
  • Clark
  • Taylor
  • Young
  • Anderson

Common first names for Cary

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Cary U.S.
â–ˆ  White 81.99% 64.26%
â–ˆ  African American 12.62% 11.96%
â–ˆ  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 0.61% 4.85%
â–ˆ  American Indian and Alaska Native 0.54% 0.69%
â–ˆ  Two or More Ethnicities 1.74% 1.76%
â–ˆ  Hispanic or Latino 2.50% 16.26%

Of Last Name Cary

People with the last name Cary are most frequently White or African American

Entire United States

Back to Top

Fun Facts about the name Cary

  • What name lists does Cary rank for?
    #167Unisex Names
  • How Popular is the name Cary? Cary is the 1,391st most popular name of all time. As a last name Cary was the 3,138th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Cary have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 29,577 babies born with the first name Cary in the United States. That's more than enough people named Cary to occupy the territory of Gibraltar (United Kingdom) with an estimated population of 29,441 (as of July 1, 2010).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Cary? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1880 when it was given as a first name to 17 new born babies.
  • When was Cary first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Cary is Wednesday, April 6th, 1870.
  • What year had the most people named Cary born? The highest recorded use of the first name Cary was in 1957 with a total of 786 babies.
  • Random Cary Factoid: According to the 1962 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Cary is not a popular baby boy's name in Missouri. Imagine that, only 10 babies in Missouri have the same name as you in 1962.
  • Weird things about the name Cary: Your name in reverse order is Yrac. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Yacr. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Cary? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 11,506 people with the last name Cary.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Cary? If you manage to meet 100,000 people in your life, chances are that 4 of them will have Cary as their last name.
Back to Top

What Carys Have Visited This Page?

Back to Top

Name poster for Cary

Name poster for Cary(click to save the high quality version)

Back to Top

Most Popular Names

All Time
Trending Now
This Year
Fastest Rising
2010s
2000s
1990s
1980s
1970s
1960s
1950s
1940s
1930s
1920s
1910s
1900s
1890s
1880s

All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.