Case
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Meaning
short form of Casey, the Irish surname Ó Cathasaigh
The story
Case is a short form of Casey, says Behind the Name, and Casey is an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Ó Cathasaigh, a patronymic from the given name Cathassach; the entry adds that Casey can be given in honour of Casey Jones, the train engineer who died in 1900 saving his passengers. The one-syllable form has its own American line, and it has climbed in every completed decade since the 1960s: about 46 boys that decade, about 280 in the 1980s, about 530 in the 1990s, about 1,580 in the 2000s, about 4,930 in the 2010s, and about 2,440 so far this decade. An Irish patronymic behind it, a folk hero in the middle distance, and a name pared down to a single beat.
The formal names behind Case
Case is an established short form of this name.
Kayce · Irish origin · variant of Casey or Case; Casey from Cathassach, 'vigilant'
How popular is Case around the world?
In the United States, 2,441 babies were named Case between 2020 and 2025.
Case is on the official records of the United States and Canada.
United States
1 in 8,900
In the United States, 2,441 babies were named Case between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Case peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 33,000
In Canada, 11 boys named Case were born in 2024, ranked 1,817th 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)
England and Wales
last on record 2022
Case is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
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
South Australia
last on record 2016
Case is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 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
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland 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 Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. 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 Case
Most people given the name Case 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.
The Case deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Case 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 Case fits with your family’s names and surname.
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