Cassandra
Cassandra was the 631st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 463 babies. Its best year was 1990, when it ranked 49th with 7,054 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 119 places. More babies were named Cassandra in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Meaning Trojan prophetess (origin uncertain) · Greek
Say it kuh-SAN-druh /kəˈsændrə/
- Rank in 2025
- #631 girls, up 24 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 463girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19907,054 babies
- Total since 1880
- 171,384babies recorded
What does the name Cassandra mean?
Cassandra is the Trojan princess of Greek myth, a daughter of King Priam, gifted with prophecy by Apollo but fated never to be believed. DMNES calls the Greek name of uncertain origin. The second part may come from anēr, man, while scholars have suggested a pre-Greek element meaning "to excel" or an Indo-European root meaning "to raise" for the first part. DMNES records it in English and Italian use from the early 16th century.
Κασσάνδρα (Ancient Greek, “Cassandra (uncertain)”)ἀνήρ (Ancient Greek, “man (possible second element)”)
How sure is this? Uncertain. DMNES lists several scholarly proposals without choosing.
Other explanations you may read: Means 'shining upon man' or 'entangler of men'. These glosses are guesses; DMNES calls the origin uncertain..
Related names: Cassie, Kassandra, Sandra, Casandra.
See also: Greek names.
Sources for this meaning
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Cassandra', DMNES (Durham University)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Cassandra' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
Nicknames for Cassandra
The usual nicknames for Cassandra are Cassie, Cass and Sandy. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Cassandra in the last five years, 39 were named Cassie, against 21 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cassie · also for Cassidy | Traditional | #1,280 | 925 |
| Cass · also for Cassidy, Cassius, Cassian | Traditional | — | — |
| Sandy · also for Alexander, Alexandra, Sandra | Traditional | #3,020 | 292 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Cassandras go by each one.
Cassandra popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 376 since 1959.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #631 | 463 |
| 2020 | #655 | 440 |
| 2010 | #329 | 980 |
| 2000 | #100 | 3,305 |
| 1990 | #49 | 7,054 |
| 1980 | #138 | 2,109 |
| 1970 | #135 | 2,601 |
| 1960 | #244 | 1,279 |
| 1950 | #307 | 639 |
| 1940 | #1,025 | 49 |
| 1930 | #2,570 | 12 |
| 1920 | #2,927 | 11 |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Cassandra, counting every spelling?
Cassandra is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #461 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #631 for Cassandra on its own. Together these spellings went to 692 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cassandra | 463 | #631 | 2,356 |
| Kassandra | 197 | #1,177 | 977 |
| Kasandra | 23 | #5,479 | 101 |
| Casandra | 9 | #10,261 | 67 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Cassandra?
463 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Cassandra (0.13 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Cassandra born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 18 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Cassandra.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Cassandra?
About 162,200 people born in the US named Cassandra are alive today, with a median age of 37; half are between 30 and 46. That makes Cassandra mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Cassandra by state
How common Cassandra was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New Jersey (1.9×), California (1.8×), Washington (1.6×), Arizona (1.6×), Utah (1.5×). In 19 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Cassandra: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Cassandra, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Cassandra · Sibling names for Cassandra
Questions about the name Cassandra
What does Cassandra mean?
Cassandra is usually explained as “Trojan prophetess (origin uncertain)”, but this is uncertain. Certainty: uncertain.
How popular is the name Cassandra?
Cassandra was the 631st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 463 babies. Its best year was 1990, when it ranked 49th with 7,054 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 119 places. More babies were named Cassandra in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Is Cassandra a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Cassandra in the US.
Where is Cassandra most popular?
In 2021–2025, Cassandra was most common in New Jersey (0.54 per 1,000 girls), followed by California and Washington.