Boy · Probably Brittonic, used by Anglo-Saxons
Cædmon
Say it: KAD-mon
Meaning
Probably of Brittonic origin (compare Welsh Cadfan) rather than Old English; the meaning is not settled.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Bede tells how the cowherd Cædmon at Whitby received the gift of song in a dream.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 886 babies given this name since 1999
- At its height in 2010, about 1 in 24,300 boys
- 19 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Famous bearers
- Cædmon, earliest named English poet
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Anglo-Saxon charters, chronicles and church records
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.