UK boy's name
Cairan
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2023. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Cairan is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Cairan popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2023 in this profile. In that release it ranked #4991, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2003, with 8 births.
This profile covers 73 England and Wales registrations across 15 recorded years from 1996 to 2023. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 38% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 78 living people in the UK are called Cairan. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2024 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Cairan ranked #4991 for boys in England and Wales in 2023, with 3 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2003, when 8 boys were registered as Cairan.
- • Cairan ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #403 in 1997.
- • About 78 living people in the UK are estimated to have Cairan as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#4991
2023
Births in 2023
3
Latest year
Peak year
2003
8 births
Estimated living
78
2026
Popularity
Cairan over time
The chart below shows babies named Cairan registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2023. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Cairan, the clearest high point is 2003. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2023, compared with 8 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cairan by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Cairan was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #4991 | 3 | 1 |
| 2010s | #3591 | 20 | 4 |
| 2000s | #2791 | 36 | 7 |
| 1990s | #2233 | 14 | 3 |
Geography
Where Cairan is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Cairan. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Cairan ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #403 in 1997.
Across the UK
Cairan in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#403 in 1997
2 years of NRS records, 6 total registered
Related
Names similar to Cairan
- Charlie 104,761
- Callum 65,796
- Connor 53,072
- Cameron 40,394
- Charles 33,091
- Christopher 26,849
- Caleb 15,553
- Corey 12,622
- Carter 11,505
- Cody 11,075
- Conor 10,298
- Christian 9,695
FAQ
Cairan: questions and answers
How popular is the name Cairan in the UK right now?
In 2023, Cairan was ranked #4991 for boys in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.
When was Cairan most popular?
The peak year on record was 2003, with 8 babies registered as Cairan in England and Wales.
How many people are called Cairan in the UK?
A total of 73 babies have been registered as Cairan across the 15 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 6 more in Scotland.
Where is Cairan most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Cairan ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #403 in 1997. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.