How rare is the name Cale?

7,688 people in the United States have the first name Cale, about 1 in 39,286. It ranks #2,940 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CALE

#2,940

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,688
About
1 in 39,286
This common or more
81.3%
Who bears it

Of the 7,688 people named Cale, 89.1% reported their origin as White, 4.3% as two or more races and 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino. 97.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Cale peaked in 2008, when 409 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19172025
Peak year
2008
Births that year
409
In 2025*
47 ▼89%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 8,291 babies have been given the name since 1917. 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.

Cale by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2000s, when it ranked #1,612. The largest share of babies named Cale, 49.4%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1910s#10,5288
1920s#13,8275
1930s#10,17411
1940s#10,74511
1950s#9,90327
1960s#5,870119
1970s#2,378705
1980s#1,7991,390
1990s#2,1351,423
2000s#1,6122,797
2010s#2,6051,562
2020s#6,675233
Greatest Generation 1901–270.2%
Silent Generation 1928–450.2%
Baby boom 1946–640.5%
Generation X 1965–8011.1%
Millennials 1981–9627.1%
Generation Z 1997–1249.4%
2013 and later11.6%

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 Cale is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Cale has been most common in Oklahoma (6.4×), Iowa (5.3×), and Kansas (5.3×), and least common in New York (0.12×).

5,326 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 Cale

#2,938 Jeanna · 7,696#2,938 Kayley · 7,696#2,941 Alani · 7,680#2,942 Amelie · 7,678

Spelled almost the same

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

#1,774 Cali · 16,918#3,677 Cal · 5,529#6,457 Caley · 2,485#9,787 Calie · 1,400#15,599 Calee · 735#19,129 Cala · 558#21,056 Cayle · 486#28,553 Calle · 314

Also a last name

As a last name, Cale ranks #10,718 of 156,621, with 2,845 people. See Cale as a last name

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