UK boy's name
Cormac
Son of the charioteer, from Old Irish name elements.
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Cormac is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Cormac popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1108, with 26 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2002, with 54 births.
This profile covers 899 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, 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 48% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 2,291 living people in the UK are called Cormac. 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 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Cormac ranked #1108 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 26 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2002, when 54 boys were registered as Cormac.
- • Cormac ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #78 in 2024.
- • About 2,291 living people in the UK are estimated to have Cormac as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1108
2024
Births in 2024
26
Latest year
Peak year
2002
54 births
Estimated living
2,291
2026
Meaning
What does Cormac mean?
The name Cormac originates from the Gaelic Irish language and has been in use since ancient times. It is derived from the Old Irish words "corp" meaning body and "macc" meaning son, literally translating to "son of chariot" or "son of the body".
In Irish mythology, Cormac was the name of several influential figures, including Cormac mac Airt, a legendary king of Ireland who reigned in the 3rd century AD. He is celebrated in the ancient Irish text known as the Annals of the Four Masters for his wisdom, leadership, and establishment of important laws.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Cormac Ua Liathain, an Irish king who ruled the Kingdom of Munster in the 9th century AD. He is mentioned in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history.
During the Middle Ages, the name Cormac was popular among Irish nobility and clergy. Saint Cormac, also known as Cormac of Cashel, was a prominent 12th-century bishop and king of Munster who is credited with building the remarkable Cormac's Chapel at the Rock of Cashel.
In the 16th century, Cormac O'Connor was an Irish chieftain and one of the last inaugurated kings of Offaly, a kingdom in the modern-day Irish Midlands. He played a significant role in the Tudor conquest of Ireland and is mentioned in various historical records from that period.
Another notable bearer of the name was Cormac Ó Máille, a 16th-century Irish pirate queen who commanded a flotilla of galleys and defended her clan's territory along the western coast of Ireland against English forces and rival Irish clans.
In more recent centuries, Cormac McCarthy, born in 1933, is a renowned American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his works such as "All the Pretty Horses," "No Country for Old Men," and "The Road," which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007.
Cormac Capitine, born in 1979, is a French hurdler and Olympic medalist who won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics and the silver medal in the same event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Cormac over time
The chart below shows babies named Cormac registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Cormac, the clearest high point is 2002. The latest England and Wales figure is 26 births in 2024, compared with 54 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cormac by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Cormac 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 | #1153 | 121 | 5 |
| 2010s | #1072 | 264 | 10 |
| 2000s | #649 | 392 | 10 |
| 1990s | #582 | 122 | 4 |
Geography
Where Cormac is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Cormac. 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.
Cormac ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #78 in 2024.
Across the UK
Cormac in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#330 in 2024
26 years of NRS records, 228 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#78 in 2024
28 years of NISRA records, 1,182 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Cormac
-
Cormac Hyde-Corrin
actor; film director; film screenwriter
British actor
2004-
-
Cormac Izuchukwu
rugby union player; rugby sevens player
Irish rugby union player
2000-
-
Cormac Donnelly
hurler
hurler
1989-
-
Cormac McAnallen
Gaelic football player
Irish Gaelic footballer (1980-2004)
1980-2004
-
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
theologian; Catholic priest; Catholic bishop
Catholic cardinal (1932-2017)
1932-2017
-
Cormac Joseph Boomer
politician
Northern Irish election candidate
Related
Names similar to Cormac
- 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
Cormac: questions and answers
How popular is the name Cormac in the UK right now?
In 2024, Cormac was ranked #1108 for boys in England and Wales, with 26 births registered.
When was Cormac most popular?
The peak year on record was 2002, with 54 babies registered as Cormac in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Cormac?
Son of the charioteer, from Old Irish name elements.
How many people are called Cormac in the UK?
A total of 899 babies have been registered as Cormac across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 228 more in Scotland and 1,182 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Cormac most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Cormac ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #78 in 2024. 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.