Cary

Where Cary comes from

The dictionaries list Cary as a given name — a male given name transferred from the surnames — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #425 among boys — 17 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1904
    Cary Grant born
    British-American actor
  3. 1904
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  4. 1962
    Cary Elwes born
    British actor
  5. 1966
    Peak, #264
    763 babies named Cary — more than any year before or since.
  6. 1974
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #459.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surnames.
  • A diminutive of the female given name Caroline.
  • A number of places in the United States:
  • An unorganised township in Aroostook County, Maine.
  • A town in Sharkey County, Mississippi.
  • A town in Wake County, Chatham County and Durham County, North Carolina.
Namesakes
  • Cary Grant · British-American actor, 1904–1986
  • Cary Elwes · British actor, born 1962
  • Cary Joji Fukunaga · American filmmaker, born 1977
  • Cary Guffey · child actor, born 1972
  • Cary Stayner · American serial killer, born 1961

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.