Boy names that start with C
C is the letter that swings hardest between the courtly and the rugged: Charles has crowned English kings for six hundred years, and Cormac came out of Irish legend with a chariot behind it. Every name below links to a full entry.
Most popular C names right now
These seven are the only C names in the current U.S. Social Security top 100, listed at their exact ranks.
- #27CooperKOO-perEnglish
Barrel maker. The most successful of the occupational surname names, and the highest-placed C name in the country.
- #45CarterKAR-terEnglish
One who drives a cart. Another trade turned surname turned first name, with a hard, confident opening.
- #48CharlesCHARLZGermanic
Free man. Charlemagne, ten French kings, three British ones — and it still hands you Charlie, Chas and Chuck.
- #58CalebKAY-lebHebrew
Wholehearted, or faithful. One of the two spies who came back from Canaan with an honest report.
- #68ChristopherKRIS-tuh-furGreek
Bearer of Christ. The saint who carried a child across a river is the patron of travellers.
- #76CameronKAM-er-unScottish
Crooked nose — a Highland clan byname that nobody hears literally any more.
- #96ChristianKRIS-chunLatin
Follower of Christ. A name and a statement at once, and a fixture in Denmark's royal line.
Classic C names
Roman clans, Irish kings and Reformation theologians. None of these are new, and none of them are going anywhere.
- CyrusSY-russPersian
Traditionally read as sun, though the Old Persian etymology is disputed. Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid empire.
- CassiusKASH-usLatin
A Roman clan name, glossed by the Romans themselves as hollow or vain. Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay.
- ConradKON-radGerman
Bold counsel — brave in the giving of advice. A German royal name that anglicised without losing its spine.
- CormacKOR-makIrish
Traditionally "son of the chariot", though the first element is disputed. Cormac mac Airt is the great legendary king of Tara.
- ConorKON-erIrish
Lover of hounds, by the traditional gloss. Conchobar ruled Ulster in the Táin; the short spelling is the modern Irish standard.
- CalvinKAL-vinFrench
Bald — a descriptive nickname that became a surname, then a first name via the reformer John Calvin.
- CarlosKAR-lohsSpanish
Free man; the Spanish and Portuguese Charles. Worn by Spanish kings and, more recently, by half of Latin America.
- CedricSED-rikEnglish
No attested meaning — Walter Scott appears to have misspelled the Saxon name Cerdic in Ivanhoe, and the mistake stuck.
- ClarkKLARKEnglish
Cleric, scribe — the man in the village who could read. Clark Gable, then Clark Kent.
- ColeKOHLEnglish
Dark or coal-black, originally a nickname for complexion. Compact, and it wears a surname's confidence.
Unique C names
Welsh mountains, Irish saints and one imaginary sea. All are outside the current U.S. top 100.
- CillianKIL-ee-anIrish
Traditionally "of the church", though it is also glossed "bright-headed". Note the double L — the single-L spelling is a different route to the same sound.
- CianKEE-anIrish
Ancient, enduring, long-lasting. A top-tier boy's name in Ireland and almost unheard in the U.S.
- CallumKAL-umScottish
Dove, from Latin columba — the bird that gave Saint Columba his name and Scotland its gentlest boy's name.
- CaspianKASS-pee-unPlace name
Of the Caspian Sea. C. S. Lewis turned a body of water into a Narnian prince, and parents have been borrowing it ever since.
- Caradockah-RAH-dokWelsh
Beloved, amiable. The Welsh form of the name Rome recorded as Caratacus, the chieftain who resisted the invasion.
- CaiKYEWelsh
Not securely known; traditionally traced to Roman Gaius. Cai is King Arthur's foster-brother in the earliest Welsh tales.
- ChanceCHANSSEnglish
Fortune, luck, the way the dice land. A word name with more nerve than most.
- ChaseCHAYSSEnglish
Huntsman; a man of the hunting ground. Movement built into a single syllable.
- ClayKLAYEnglish
Clay — the earth you can shape. Plain, warm and quietly Southern.
- CrewKROOEnglish
No traditional meaning; an English word chosen for what it suggests — a team, a boat, people pulling together.
C names from around the world
Igbo sentence names, Turkish nouns and one Aztec emperor. C is unusually productive outside English.
- ChidiCHEE-deeIgbo
God exists; there is a God. Short for longer Chi- names, and a complete name in its own right.
- ChikeCHEE-kehIgbo
God's strength; the power of God. Two syllables, both of them load-bearing.
- Chigoziechee-GOH-zee-ehIgbo
May God bless; God blesses. Igbo names are usually whole sentences, and this one is a prayer.
- CesareCHEH-zah-rehItalian
An inherited Roman family name whose meaning the Romans had already lost. The Italian Caesar, with three soft syllables.
- Cristiankrees-TYAHNSpanish
Follower of Christ — the Spanish spelling, with the stress thrown onto the end.
- Cauãka-WANBrazilian
Hawk, falcon — from the Tupi name of the laughing falcon. Part of Brazil's revival of indigenous names.
- Cuauhtémockwow-TEH-mokNahuatl
Descending eagle; the eagle that drops on its target. The last Aztec emperor, and a name of real weight in Mexico.
- CenkJENKTurkish
Battle; combat. Note the pronunciation — Turkish c is an English j.
- CsongorCHON-gorHungarian
An Old Turkic word for a falcon, and the hero of Hungary's best-loved verse play.
- CzesławCHEH-swahfPolish
Honour and glory. Czesław Miłosz won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980.
- ChenchunChinese
Dawn, early morning — written 晨. A given name, not to be confused with the very common surname.
- CuongKUH-ungVietnamese
Strong, powerful — the character 強. One of the standard Vietnamese boy's names.