Recent in Baby
When Baby Resists SolidsWhen Baby Resists SolidsBaby Biting TipsBaby Biting Tips5 Tips To Help Prevent Highchair Injuries5 Tips To Help Prevent Highchair InjuriesWhen Baby and Pet MeetWhen Baby and Pet MeetTreatments for ColicTreatments for ColicBaby Milestones – The First YearBaby Milestones – The First YearTips for Relieving Teething PainTips for Relieving Teething PainBenefits of Making Your Own Baby FoodBenefits of Making Your Own Baby Food

Home › Baby Names Directory › Cagney

Cagney

♂ Boy

How to Pronounce Cagney

Pronounced KAG-nee /ˈkæɡni/High

Meaning: Cagney is an Irish surname, an anglicized form of O Caingne, before it was used as a given name. Its adoption for babies in the nineteen-eighties owes much to the actor James Cagney and to the television series that carried his surname into living rooms, giving parents a crisp, familiar-sounding masculine name.Low

In 30 seconds: Cagney is an Irish surname turned first name, best known from the film star James Cagney. It appeared for only a few dozen boys a year at its peak in the mid-nineteen-eighties (said 'KAG-nee').
💕 Browse more names
Origin MediumIrish
MeaningCagney is an Irish surname, an anglicized form of O Caingne, before it was used as a given name. Its adoption for babies in the nineteen-eighties owes much to the actor James Cagney and to the television series that carried his surname into living rooms, giving parents a crisp, familiar-sounding masculine name.
U.S. rank (2011)#12567 ↘ Falling
2011 U.S. births5 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)
Peak year1984
Total births (all-time)≈ 105

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 198419822011

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Cagney began as an Irish family name, anglicized from O Caingne, and owes its life as a first name to popular culture - above all the acclaimed movie star James Cagney and the surname's mid-eighties television visibility.

As a given name it never spread far, touching only a few dozen boys a year around its nineteen-eighties peak before quietly fading. It remains a recognizably surname-style choice tied to that decade's screen presence.

Did you know? Cagney reached the baby-name lists just as a police drama borrowed the surname for one of its lead characters, and the small bump around then suggests screens, not family trees, put it on parents' minds.
Overall data confidence 50%
References - Cagney (surname / James Cagney) — Irish surname O Caingne; actor James Cagney namesake

Variations

CagnyKagneyCagneeCaneyCagnie

Nicknames

CagCagey

Famous Bearers

  • ★James Cagney (1899-1986)
    American film actor and one of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 1930s and 1940s; an Academy Award winner and the surname's best-known bearer.

If you like Cagney…

Brady— another Irish surname used as a boys' first name
Brody— a comparable surname-style boys' name
Finnegan— a longer Irish surname turned given name
Conley— lands in the same popularity range
Covey— shares the -ey ending

Explore names like Cagney

By themeraresurname-nameirishnamesake

All themes →All meanings →All origins →

Frequently Asked

What does the name Cagney mean?

Cagney is an Irish surname, from O Caingne, used as a first name and linked to actor James Cagney.

How do you pronounce Cagney?

It's said KAG-nee /ˈkæɡni/ - two syllables, stress on the first.

Is Cagney a boy or girl name?

Cagney is used as a boy's name.

How popular is Cagney?

Cagney has always been rare, a surname-style name tied to its famous screen namesake.

💬 Ask Nia