The most used girls' names beginning with C in 2025

C is the one letter where the same root name leads both lists. Charlotte heads the girls at 1,339 babies and Charlie the boys at 1,679, and both descend from the Germanic word for a free man. Beyond that pair the girls' letter is small and classical: 8,348 babies across 250 names, with Latin and Greek origins doing most of the work.

ONS rank (all girls' names)	Name	Babies in 2025	Meaning and origin
25	Charlotte	1,339	French feminine diminutive of Charles, from Germanic karl, free man
77	Clara	610	Latin clarus, clear or bright, the root behind English clarity
89	Chloe	521	Greek chloe, green shoot, an epithet of Demeter
114	Cleo	423	Short form of Cleopatra, Greek kleos glory and pater father
132	Cora	368	Greek kore, maiden, a title of Persephone; the modern name comes through Fenimore Cooper
154	Connie	324	Short form of Constance, Latin constantia, steadfastness
172	Cecilia	282	Roman family name Caecilius, from Latin caecus, blind
186	Callie	270	Short form of Caroline, or of Greek names in kalli-, beautiful; both are in use
186	Clementine	270	French feminine of Clement, Latin clemens, merciful
235	Celine	199	French from Latin Caelina, from Caelius, probably caelum, heaven
369	Constance	116	Latin constantia, steadfastness
423	Celeste	96	Latin caelestis, heavenly

The most used boys' names beginning with C in 2025

The boys' letter is larger at 11,207 babies across 281 names, and it pulls in a different direction from the girls'. Where the girls' C names are mostly European and old, the boys' list is dominated by American surname names: Carter, Cody, Cooper, Cole and Casey are all imported surnames, and together they outnumber the traditional Charles and Christopher several times over.

ONS rank (all boys' names)	Name	Babies in 2025	Meaning and origin
22	Charlie	1,679	Diminutive of Charles, Germanic karl, free man
82	Caleb	624	Hebrew, read either as kelev, dog, or as whole-hearted; both readings are ancient
97	Carter	536	English occupational surname for a man who drove a cart
102	Cody	504	Anglicised Irish surname O Cuidighthigh, descendant of the helpful one
105	Cooper	493	English occupational surname for a barrel maker
119	Charles	437	Germanic karl, free man, carried into English through French
128	Chester	388	English place name from Latin castrum, a fort
167	Casper	304	Form of Jasper, probably from a Persian word for treasurer
179	Cole	289	English surname, either Old English col, charcoal, or a short form of Nicholas
188	Casey	267	Anglicised Irish surname O Cathasaigh, descendant of the vigilant one
200	Cruz	258	Spanish and Portuguese cruz, cross, from a Marian title
203	Christopher	247	Greek Christophoros, bearing Christ

Which C names are rising and which are falling

Climbing

Clara rose 7 places to 77th and is up 12 since 2015, the only clear one-year climber among the girls' C names. For boys, Carter gained 6 places and re-entered the top 100 at 97th, marked by the ONS as a new entry to that list. The ten-year columns show Caleb up 17 since 2015, which is more movement than its single-year change of minus 7 suggests.

Slipping

Chloe is the letter's story. It lost 17 places in 2025 alone and is down 71 places since 2015, the largest ten-year fall of any C name and one of the steepest in the girls' top 100. Charlotte slipped 2 places but is exactly where it was ten years ago. Among boys Charlie lost 5 and Caleb 7, both from strong positions.

What the published change columns cannot tell you

Only three C names for girls and three for boys sit inside the top 100, so the ONS publishes movement for six names in total. Cleo, Cora, Connie, Cecilia, Clementine, Chester, Casper and Cillian all have exact counts in the full 2025 list and no official change figure at all. Where this page says a name is popular it means the count; it does not mean the name is climbing.

How big a letter C really is

C is a middling letter, eleventh for girls and eleventh for boys by babies named. It is also one of the more concentrated: Charlotte takes 16 per cent of the girls' letter and Charlie 15 per cent of the boys', so once you step past those two the numbers fall away quickly. Cleo at 423 and Cody at 504 are already outside the top 100 in both cases.

The letter has an unusual spelling problem. Cecilia and Cecelia are counted separately at 282 and 95, Callie and Cali separately, and the hard and soft C sounds sit side by side in the same list, so Cecilia and Cora begin with the same letter but nothing else. Anyone choosing a C name for how it looks written down should say the shortlist aloud before deciding.

Further C names in the published 2025 list

The ONS full list does not stop at the tables above, and the counts stay exact all the way down. For girls the next names in order of use are Cecelia at 95, Cara at 85, Cassandra at 81, Cataleya at 79, Cassie at 78, Cecily at 78, Camille at 71, Chiara at 68, Camilla at 66, Catherine at 66, Chimamanda at 65, Clover at 65. For boys they are Cameron at 231, Cillian at 230, Colby at 222, Callum at 186, Cassian at 158, Connor at 152, Cassius at 140, Cian at 126, Caelan at 119, Coby at 114, Christian at 105, Carson at 101. Each figure is the exact number of babies registered with that exact spelling during 2025, taken from the ONS full-list table rather than from the top 100. The letter carries 250 different girls' names and 281 different boys' names in the published data altogether, and any name given to two or fewer babies has been removed from it.

Choosing a C name: what the data changes

If you want a C name that is established rather than fashionable, the girls' list rewards you: Clara, Cecilia, Constance and Clementine all have long documented histories and modest counts. If you want the letter's momentum, it is on the boys' side, where the surname group has grown from almost nothing in the 1990s. Either way, check the ONS full list rather than a top ten, because C's interesting names all sit below rank 100.

Baby names starting with C: girls and boys