Cairo
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Meaning
capital of Egypt; from Arabic al-Qahirah, 'the victorious'
The story
Cairo is not an invented place name. It points to a living metropolis whose Arabic name, al-Qahirah, means the Victorious. The Fatimids established their new capital beside older settlements in 969, and the city grew into a center of government, scholarship, trade, architecture, cinema, and music. A child called Cairo therefore shares a name with far more than pyramids on a postcard. The pyramids of Giza stand beyond the historic city, while Cairo itself is crowded, layered, and continually remade by the people who live there. As a personal name, Cairo follows the same route as London, Paris, or Brooklyn: geography becomes memory, aspiration, or simply sound. Families may choose it without claiming Egyptian heritage, but the place should remain visible behind the choice. Kairo is a modern spelling companion; Cairo keeps the map intact. The name's real grandeur is not an abstract meaning. It is a thousand-year-old city still speaking for itself.
How popular is Cairo around the world?
In the United States, 6,261 babies were named Cairo between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 25 boys named Cairo were registered in 2025.
Cairo is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Scotland, Canada, Montevideo, Argentina, South Australia, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 3,500
In the United States, 6,261 babies were named Cairo between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Cairo peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 2,300
In New Zealand, 25 boys named Cairo were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Puerto Rico
1 in 2,600
In Puerto Rico, 7 babies were named Cairo in 2025, and 7 have carried the name since 1998.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
England and Wales
1 in 6,300
In England and Wales, 93 boys named Cairo were born in 2025, the 427th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
1 in 6,500
In Scotland, 7 boys named Cairo were registered in 2024, the 432nd most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 12,000
In Canada, 31 boys named Cairo were born in 2024, the 831st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Montevideo City
1 in 12,0002011
In Montevideo, 2 boys named Cairo were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Argentina
1 in 17,000
In Argentina, 39 newborns were given the name Cairo in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Cairo in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Brazil
1 in 48,000
At the 2022 census, 4,297 people in Brazil were named Cairo, ranked 3,048th, with a median age of 24.
Among people named Cairo living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 295 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 430,000
In Spain, 104 residents are named Cairo, ranked 7,995th among men, with a mean age of 6.7 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Ireland
last on record 2024
Cairo is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Not on the record in Mexico City and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Cairo
Most people given the name Cairo in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Cairo deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Cairo truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Cairo fits with your family’s names and surname.
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