Boy · #12,301 in 2026

Cardiff

Name: Popularity of the name Cardiff in U.S. births, 1880–2026
Creator: U.S. Social Security Administration
License: https://www.ssa.gov/foia/
Keywords: Cardiff, baby name, popularity, U.S., SSA, rankings

Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 383,919 in 2024 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff. The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom.

Current Rank

#12,301

Peak Rank

#8,981 (2022)

Total Babies

5-Yr Trend

Stable

2022

First Year

2024

Last Year

2022

Peak Year

#8981

Peak Rank

Total Count

Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Cardiff

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

Etymology

Caerdydd (the Welsh name of the city) derives from the Middle Welsh Caerdyf . The change from -dyf to -dydd shows the colloquial alteration of Welsh f [ v ] and dd [ ð ] and was perhaps also driven by folk etymology . This sound change probably first occurred in the Middle Ages ; both forms were current in the Tudor period . Caerdyf has its origins in post-Roman Brythonic words meaning "the fort of the Taff ". The fort probably refers to that established by the Romans . Caer is Welsh for fort and -dyf is a form of Taf (Taff), the river which flows by Cardiff Castle, with the ⟨ t ⟩ showing cons

Origin & history

Main articles: History of Cardiff and Timeline of Cardiff history

The Story of Cardiff

The earliest SSA record of Cardiff as a baby boy name dates back to 2022, when 8 babies received it. 2022 was its biggest year on record, with 8 newborns named Cardiff — #8,981 in the national rankings. Cardiff last appeared in the published SSA data in 2024, with 5 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 13 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 2020s to the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

Top 10

11-50

51-100

101-500

500+

No data

Names that sound like Cardiff

Phonetically similar names — useful when Cardiff is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Carda
Karda
Cardi
Cardy
Cardo
Cardie
Cardis
Cardus
Corda
Korda
Chorda
Tardif

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Cardiff

What does the name Cardiff mean?

How popular is Cardiff in 2026?

In 2026, Cardiff ranks #12,301 among boys' names in the U.S., with 5 babies given the name that year.

When was Cardiff most popular?

Cardiff reached its peak popularity in 2022, ranking #8,981 that year with 8 babies given the name.

Is Cardiff a unisex name?

In U.S. Social Security records, Cardiff is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name.

What names go well with Cardiff?

Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Cardiff include Excel, Petie, Rorie. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

About the name Cardiff

Cardiff is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 2022 and has accumulated 13 births in the dataset. Cardiff's peak popularity came in 2022 when it ranked #8,981. Use the chart and map above to compare Cardiff's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.