How common is the name Caleb?

264,107 people in the United States have the first name Caleb, about 1 in 1,144. It ranks #205 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CALEB

#205

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
264,107
About
1 in 1,144
This common or more
42%
Who bears it

Of the 264,107 people named Caleb, 69.8% reported their origin as White, 11.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 9.6% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Caleb peaked in 2002, when 11,684 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2002
Births that year
11,684
In 2025*
5,217 ▼55%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 325,003 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.

Caleb by decade

Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #53 in every decade from the 2000s to the 2010s. The largest share of babies named Caleb, 51.4%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#895182
1890s#1,71089
1900s#1,873106
1910s#2,026317
1920s#2,174416
1930s#2,382316
1940s#2,649312
1950s#2,647416
1960s#2,563518
1970s#8744,012
1980s#28620,769
1990s#10766,446
2000s#53110,303
2010s#5386,854
2020s#8833,947
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.2%
Silent Generation 1928–450.2%
Baby boom 1946–640.2%
Generation X 1965–801.6%
Millennials 1981–9618.5%
Generation Z 1997–1251.4%
2013 and later27.8%

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 Caleb is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Caleb has been most common in Alaska (2.3×), Nevada (1.7×), and Idaho (1.5×), and least common in New York (0.45×).

321,499 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 Caleb

#203 Monica · 264,966#204 Marie · 264,225#206 Steve · 262,435#207 Gerald · 258,431

Spelled almost the same

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

#14,014 Cayleb · 849#15,138 Calob · 765#17,418 Calab · 634#18,671 Calib · 575#25,086 Caeleb · 380#37,708 Calub · 206#38,294 Caileb · 201#39,517 Calev · 191

Also a last name

As a last name, Caleb ranks #31,714 of 156,621, with 781 people. See Caleb as a last name

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