boy's name
Cameron
KAM-run
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 431,080
the United States
#76
2025 births
Cameron is a name of Scottish origin meaning "crooked nose," from the Gaelic cam, crooked, and sròn, nose. It is the name of a major Highland clan, and the unflattering meaning is a genuine byname rather than a mistranslation.
- Cameron is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in 2000, when 14,363 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 668 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1882.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Cameron over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 30 |
| 1890s | 34 |
| 1900s | 49 |
| 1910s | 281 |
| 1920s | 540 |
| 1930s | 393 |
| 1940s | 728 |
| 1950s | 2,066 |
| 1960s | 4,103 |
| 1970s | 8,973 |
| 1980s | 26,721 |
| 1990s | 87,799 |
| 2000s | 107,805 |
| 2010s | 72,174 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 33,200 |
What Cameron means
Cameron means crooked nose, from cam, bent or crooked, and sròn, nose. Bynames describing a physical peculiarity were entirely ordinary in Gaelic Scotland, and several clan names preserve one.
Where Cameron comes from
Cameron comes from the Gaelic cam sròn, crooked nose, a personal byname that became the name of a Highland clan seated in Lochaber. Descriptive bynames of this kind were common in Gaelic naming — Campbell means crooked mouth, from cam beul, by exactly the same construction — and they carried no insult once they had become hereditary. A separate line derives some Lowland Camerons from a place name in Fife, from Gaelic elements meaning crooked hill. Clan Cameron were prominent Jacobites, and the name spread with Scottish emigration before becoming a given name in the twentieth century, used for both boys and girls.
Cameron in use
Cameron means crooked nose and Campbell means crooked mouth — two of Scotland's great clan names are both physical bynames.
How popular is Cameron?
In 2025, Cameron was given to 4,962 babies in the United States, ranking #76 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Cameron is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Cameron
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Cameron also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Cameron over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Cameron
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Cameron in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Cameron
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Cameron — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Cameron
What does the name Cameron mean?
Cameron means "crooked nose," from the Gaelic cam, crooked, and sròn, nose.
Is that really what Cameron means?
Yes. Descriptive bynames were ordinary in Gaelic Scotland — Campbell means crooked mouth by the same construction.
Is Cameron a boy's or a girl's name?
Both, though it is given more often to boys.
How popular is the name Cameron?
In 2025, Cameron was given to 4,962 babies in the United States, ranking #76 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
How many syllables are in Cameron?
Cameron has 3 syllables.
When was Cameron most popular?
Cameron peaked in 2000, when 14,363 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Cameron?
Cameron is usually shortened to Cam, Ron and Cammy.
Is Cameron a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Cameron currently ranks #33 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.