How rare is the name Cal?

5,529 people in the United States have the first name Cal, about 1 in 54,627. It ranks #3,677 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CAL

#3,677

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,529
About
1 in 54,627
This common or more
82.8%
Who bears it

Of the 5,529 people named Cal, 78.2% reported their origin as White, 9.3% as Black and 4.8% as Hispanic or Latino. 96% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Cal peaked in 2025, when 554 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2025
Births that year
554
In 2025*
554
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 7,868 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Cal by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #1,235. The largest share of babies named Cal, 40.5%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#1,235104
1890s#1,72587
1900s#2,50659
1910s#2,906176
1920s#3,029249
1930s#2,982215
1940s#2,667309
1950s#2,291548
1960s#2,737458
1970s#4,227288
1980s#4,495333
1990s#3,435689
2000s#3,585903
2010s#3,0331,273
2020s#1,4762,177
Before 19012.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–275.6%
Silent Generation 1928–455.1%
Baby boom 1946–6412.5%
Generation X 1965–806.3%
Millennials 1981–969.6%
Generation Z 1997–1217.8%
2013 and later40.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Cal is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Cal has been most common in Utah (7.4×), Wisconsin (3.7×), and Minnesota (3×), and least common in Pennsylvania (0.2×).

3,783 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Cal

#3,674 Nabil · 5,530#3,674 Song · 5,530#3,678 Earnestine · 5,526#3,678 Lavon · 5,526

Spelled almost the same

7 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Cal, most common first.

#1,774 Cali · 16,918#2,940 Cale · 7,688#5,183 Cael · 3,366#19,129 Cala · 558#29,154 Caly · 305#39,915 Cail · 188#47,181 Call · 139

Also a last name

As a last name, Cal ranks #28,554 of 156,621, with 888 people. See Cal as a last name

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