Cameo

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

How Cameo is read●(measured from records)

Cameo is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English84%

  A piece of jewelry, etc., carved in relief.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  English; from the word for a carved gem

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• Spanish6.5%

  cameo (short appearance)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

Cameo is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Caméo

51 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Cameo is also recorded in one other lexicon, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Apparently a transferred use of the vocabulary word (Italian cammeo, which is probably of Oriental origin) referring to the relief carving of a layered mineral carried out in such a way as to result in foreground and background of contrasting colours, and by extension to anything else—including a baby—that is small but perfectly formed.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

How to address them○(machine-generated)

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the name Cameo come from?

Apparently a transferred use of the vocabulary word (Italian cammeo, which is probably of Oriental origin) referring to the relief carving of a layered mineral carried out in such a way as to result i… Recorded by A concise dictionary of first names.

What does the name Cameo mean?

In English, A piece of jewelry, etc., carved in relief.

How do you pronounce Cameo?

A machine transcription gives /kæmioʊ/ (IPA) for English.

Is Cameo a male or female name?

Cameo is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

In which country does Cameo have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 1.5 thousand people named Cameo, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled cameo.

How common is the name Cameo?

In the United States, the national register counted 1,486 people named Cameo in 2020, about 1 in 224 thousand residents.