Names beginning with C can feel traditional, rugged, playful, or polished. Familiar choices such as Caleb, Charles, and Christopher sit alongside surname names, country picks, and options you may be hearing for the first time.

If you’re looking for boy names that start with C, this list includes a meaning or origin for each one. The names are grouped by style so you can focus on the categories that interest you most.

Boy Names That Start With C

The names are arranged alphabetically within each category so you can compare your favorites more easily.

10 Popular Boy Names That Start With C

According to the Social Security Administration, each of these names appeared among the top 1,000 names for boys in 2025.¹

1. Caleb — This Hebrew name means “faithful.”

2. Cameron — This name means “crooked nose” in Scottish.

3. Carson — This boy’s name is of Irish and Scottish origin. It means “son of the marsh dwellers.”

4. Carter — An English occupational name for someone who made or drove carts.

5. Charles — French and German for “free man.”

6. Christian — This name is of Latin origin and means “follower of Christ.”

7. Christopher — The meaning of this boy’s name is “bearer of Christ” in Greek.

8. Colton — English for “dark town” or “settlement near a coal mine.”

9. Connor — This Irish name means “lover of hounds.”

10. Cooper — An Old English name meaning “barrel maker.”

23 Modern Boy Names That Start With C

1. Cage — This is a trendy C boy name that means “enclosure” in English.

2. Caine — This Irish name means “son of a fighter.”

3. Cal — A short and modern name that means “devotion” in Hebrew.

4. Callum — This name means “dove” in Scottish.

5. Cash — An English word name associated with money or wealth.

6. Chancellor — A French name for someone in power.

7. Charleson — German for “free man” or “strong.”

8. Chaz — This name is German for “free man.”

9. Chelsea — A gender-neutral name that means “chalk landing place” in Old English.

10. Cheyenne — The name of an Indigenous people and their language, spoken in the Great Plains.

11. Chicago — A place name derived from an Indigenous word used for a wild leek.

12. Chosen — English for “selected.”

13. Cillian — An Irish name likely derived from a word meaning “church” with a diminutive suffix.

14. Coast — This English name means “land near the sea.”

15. Collins — This name is typically a surname. It means “people of victory” in Irish.

16. Comet — This name is derived from the Greek word that means “head with long hair.”

17. Connolly — This Irish Gaelic name means “fierce as a hound.”

18. Copper — Meaning “reddish-brown mineral,” Copper is an English name for the chemical element.

19. Crane — English for “long-necked bird.” It is also a nickname used for someone with long legs.

20. Crew — Meaning “group of people” in English.

21. Crimson — This English name means “deep red.”

22. Cruz — Derived from the Spanish word for “cross.”

23. Cyrus — A Greek name that means “lord” or “sun.”

25 Cute Boy Names That Start With C

1. Cadence — A Latin name that means “rhythm.”

2. Carlito — This name means “manly” in Spanish.

3. Carey — An Irish name meaning “dark” or “black.”

4. Cashmere — An English word name taken from cashmere, the fine, soft wool named for Kashmir.

5. Celestino — A Latin name meaning “heavenly.”

6. Chad — An English name derived from the Old English Ceadda. Its meaning is uncertain, though it may be related to a Welsh word for “battle.”

7. Champ — This American name means “winner.”

8. Chandler — French for “candle maker.”

9. Chase — A French word for “hunt” or “hunter.”

10. Chen — Chinese for “dawn” or “morning.”

11. Chester — This is a Latin name for “fortress” or “walled town.”

12. Chevy — This is a cute short form of “Chevalier,” a French name that means “horseman” or “knight.”

13. Chico — A Spanish name meaning “boy” or “lad.”

14. Chidi — An Igbo name meaning “God exists.”

15. Chip — A sweet nickname for Charles that works great as a given name. It’s German for “free man.”

16. Cinna — An ancient Roman cognomen of uncertain meaning.

17. Cisco — A Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese short form of Francisco.

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18. Coby — An adorable short form of “Jacob” that means “supplanter” in Hebrew.

19. Cole — This English name means “charcoal.”

20. Collie — A Latin name meaning “dark-haired.”

21. Conley — Irish for “great chief.”

22. Cortez — This name means “courteous” in Spanish.

23. Cosmo — This boy’s name means “order” and “beauty” in Greek.

24. Cree — The name of a group of Indigenous peoples and related languages in Canada.

25. Cristobal — Spanish for “Christ-bearer.”

12 Common Boy Names That Start With C

1. Caden/Cayden — Caden is Gaelic for “battle,” while the spelling Cayden is Welsh.

2. Carl — A German and English name that means “free man.”

3. Carlos — Also meaning “free man,” “Carlos” is the Spanish version of “Carl.”

4. Casey — Irish Gaelic for “brave in battle” and “watchful.”

5. Cody — An Irish name meaning “helpful.”

6. Christoph — This name is German and means “bearer of Christ.”

7. Colby — This English name means “coal town.”

8. Collin — This name means “victorious people” in Greek and “young one” in Scottish.

9. Corey — Irish for “from the hollow.”

10. Craig — This name means “from the rocks” or “dwells near the crag.” It is of Irish, Scottish, and Welsh origin.

11. Cristiano — Latin for “follower of Christ.”

12. Curtis — This French name means “courteous” or “polite.”

27 Country Boy Names That Start With C

This group includes surname choices, place names, and country favorites such as Colt, Clyde, and Crockett.

1. Calhoun — Irish and Scottish name meaning “from the narrow woods.”

2. Campbell — Scottish for “crooked mouth.”

3. Carlson — A Scandinavian surname meaning “son of Carl.”

4. Carol — This name has two meanings in English: “free man” and “joyful song.”

5. Carver — A Middle English occupational name for someone who cuts wood.

6. Cassidy — A gender-neutral country name that means “curly-headed” in Irish.

7. Charlie — This C boy’s name means “free man” in German.

8. Chatham — This English name means “soldier’s land.”

9. Chauncey — A British name that can mean “chancellor” or “fortune.”

10. Chesney — This name means “oak grove” in French and English.

11. Chet — This short and sweet country name means “fortress” in English.

12. Chuck — Like Charlie, Chuck means “free man” in German.

13. Clancy — Irish for “son of the red warrior.”

14. Clarence — This C name for boys is Latin for “bright.”

15. Clark — British for “clerk” or “scribe.”

16. Cletus  — A Greek name meaning “called forth.”

17. Cleveland — This English name means “hilly land” or “from the cliff.”

18. Clifford — An English name meaning “ford by a cliff.”

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19. Clint — This name of English origin means “settlement on a hill.”

20. Clyde — A Scottish place name taken from the River Clyde.

21. Colt — The English word for a young male horse.

22. Conroy — Irish for “keeper of the hound.”

23. Conway — A surname and place name with Irish and Welsh roots.

24. Corbett — An Old French name meaning “raven.”

25. Cranston — Old English for “settlement of cranes.”

26. Crawford — This is an English place name that means “ford of the crows.”

27. Crockett — A Middle English name that means “large curl.”

31 Unique Boy Names That Start With C

1. Cade — An English name meaning “round” or “sturdy.”

2. Cagney — An Irish name meaning “grandson of the advocate.”

3. Caillou — French for “pebble.”

4. Calder — This name is English for “rough water.”

5. Callahan — An Irish surname meaning “descendant of Ceallachán.”

6. Caliban — A literary name belonging to a character in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

7. Calvin — French for “little bald one.”

8. Camden — This Scottish name means “winding valley.”

9. Camille — A French name meaning “helper to the priest.”

10. Carlton — This name means “free man’s settlement” in English.

11. Carmelo — This name has Italian, Hebrew, and Spanish origins and means “garden.”

12. Carmichael — Scottish for “fort of Michael.”

13. Casper — This name means “treasure bearer” in Persian.

14. Castiel — A name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Cassiel, and well known from the television series Supernatural.

15. Cato — An ancient Roman name meaning “wise.”

16. Chamberlain — Middle English for “officer of the household.”

17. Chance — This English name means “good fortune.”

18. Channing — Meaning “wolf cub,” this name is of English and Irish origin.

19. Ciaran — This name means “little dark one” in Irish.

20. Cicero — Latin for “chickpea.”

21. Ciel — This name means “heavenly” in French.

22. Cipriano — This name is Italian for “from Cyprus.”

23. Cirrus — This Latin name means “lock of hair.”

24. Claudio — An Italian and Spanish name meaning “lame.”

25. Clayton — This name means “clay settlement” in Old English.

26. Clovis — French for “renowned warrior.”

27. Colbert — This French name means “bright.”

28. Corbin — A French and English name associated with the word for “raven.”

29. Cosimo — Italian for “order” or “beauty.”

30. Creed — A Latin and English name that means “guiding principle” or “belief.”

31. Cullen — This name means “young hound” or “handsome” in Irish.

33 Rare Boy Names That Start With C

1. Cable — A French name for “rope maker.” Short forms are Cab and Cabe.

2. Cabot — This name means “to sail” in French.

3. Cadao — A Vietnamese name connected to ca dao, a form of folk poetry or song.

4. Caddock — This Welsh name means “battle glory.”

5. Cadell — This name means “spirit of the battle” in Welsh.

6. Cadfael — This rare Welsh name means “battle prince.”

7. Cadmus — Greek for “from the east.”

8. Cadoc — This is another rare Welsh name that means “battle.”

9. Cadogan — Welsh for “honor in battle.”

10. Cador — This is the name of King Arthur’s nephew in Arthurian legend.

11. Cael — This Irish name means “slender.”

12. Caelan — An Irish name that may mean “narrow” or “powerful warrior.”

13. Caesar/Cesar — Spanish and Latin for “head of hair.”

14. Caetano — Portuguese for “from Gaeta.”

15. Cahir — Old Irish for “battle man.”

16. Caian — An English and Welsh name meaning “rejoice.”

17. Cairn — This name means “mound of rocks” in Scottish.

18. Cairo — An Arabic place name commonly interpreted as “the victorious.”

19. Caius — An ancient Roman masculine name and an earlier form of Gaius.

20. Callan/Callen — A Scottish boy’s name starting with C. It means “battle” or “rock.”

21. Cannon — English for “clergyman” and Latin for “discipline.”

22. Case — This name means either “case maker” in English or “observant” in Irish.

23. Caspian — A literary name associated with the Caspian Sea and C.S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian.

24. Cassius — A Latin name traditionally associated with “hollow.”

25. Cayson — A modern English spelling variant of Cason.

26. Cedar — An English nature name taken from the evergreen tree.

27. Chaim — This Hebrew name means “life.”

28. Cohen — A modern given name most often linked to the Hebrew surname meaning “priest”; a separate Irish surname form also exists.

29. Colson — In English, Colson means “victory of the people.”

30. Colter — This is an English occupational name for someone who herds colts.

31. Crosby — Irish for “dwells at the cross.”

32. Cutler — An English occupational surname for a maker or seller of knives.

33. Cyan — An English color name referring to a blue-green shade.

37 Old-Fashioned Boy Names That Start With C

1. Caldwell — This Old English name means “cold stream.”

2. Carlisle — An English name that means “from the protected tower” or “from the walled city.”

3. Carmine — Italian and Latin for “song.”

4. Casimir — This name means “destroyer of peace” in Polish.

5. Cassian — The meaning of this Latin C name for boys is “empty” or “hollow.”

6. Cavanaugh — An Irish name meaning “follower of Kevin.”

7. Cecil — An English name from the Roman family name Caecilius, traditionally linked to a Latin word meaning “blind.”

8. Cedric — A literary name coined by Sir Walter Scott for Ivanhoe; its ultimate meaning is uncertain.

9. Chadwick — English for “from the warrior’s town.”

10. Charlemagne — An Old French name meaning “Charles the Great.”

11. Claude — Meaning “lame,” this classic name has English and French roots.

12. Clemmons — An English surname derived from Clement, meaning “merciful” or “mild.”

13. Clement — A Latin name for “merciful” or “mild.”

14. Clifton — Old English for “town by the cliff.”

15. Clinton — This English name means “settlement on the hill.”

16. Clive — This is an Old English name used for someone who lived near a cliff.

17. Clooney — Irish for “from the meadow.”

18. Colbourn — An English place name meaning “cold brook.”

19. Coleman — This is an English and Irish name. It means “dove” and was also an occupational name for a charcoal burner.

20. Columbo — This name means “dove” in Latin and Italian.

21. Conan — Irish Celtic for “little wolf.”

22. Conrad — A German name that means “brave counsel.”

23. Constantine — A Latin masculine name meaning “constant” or “steadfast.”

24. Copeland — English for “bought land.”

25. Cormac — This name means “son of the charioteer” in Irish.

26. Cornelius — This name is derived from the Latin word for “horn.” It is also Irish for “strong-willed.”

27. Costello — Irish for “resembling a deer.”

28. Courtney — This name has two meanings in French: “short nose” and “from the court.” It is gender-neutral.

29. Craven — An English name meaning “garlic place.”

30. Credence — This name means “to believe” in Latin.

31. Crispin — Latin for “curly-haired.”

32. Cromwell — An Old English place name for a village in Nottinghamshire. It means “from the crooked well.”

33. Crowley — Irish Gaelic for “descendant of the hardy warrior.”

34. Crusoe — This French name means “cross.”

35. Culver — This Old English name means “dove.”

36. Cuthbert — This name means “brilliant” or “famous” in Old English.

37. Cyril — A Greek name meaning “lordly.”

Once you have a few C names in mind, try saying each one with your last name and writing out the initials. You may find that one or two begin to feel more natural than the rest.

For more ideas, visit our baby names hub or continue with the related name lists below.

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• One-Syllable Baby Boy Names
• Unique Baby Boy Names
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• Old-Fashioned Baby Names