Caleb
Caleb was given to 5,217 boys in 2025, #58 among boys’ names; 325,003 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 317,000 Americans named Caleb and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 20 years old and half are between 12 and 28.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Caleb by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Caleb mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Caleb is “a male given name from Hebrew first used by Puritans.” Its etymology gives the sense “dog” (כֶּלֶב).
From Late Latin Caleb, Calebus, from Koine Greek Χάλεβ (Kháleb), from Biblical Hebrew כָּלֵב (Kālēḇ), possibly related to כֶּלֶב (keleḇ, “dog”), referring to the unconditional devotion of dogs to their masters.
/ˈkeɪ.ləb/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Caleb?
#58 among boys’ names, 2025
Caleb fell from #37 in 2015 to #58 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 4.6 to 3.1 per 1,000.
11,684 babies in 2002, the peak
Caleb peaked in 2002, when 11,684 babies were given it (11,665 boys, #35 among boys’ names). The 5,217 births of 2025 are 45% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5,217 | #58 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 5,795 | #49 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 5,533 | #51 | 3.2 |
| 2022 | 5,778 | #52 | 3.3 |
| 2021 | 5,964 | #51 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | 5,616 | #56 | 3.3 |
| 2019 | 6,416 | #51 | 3.6 |
| 2018 | 6,997 | #45 | 3.9 |
| 2017 | 7,154 | #50 | 3.9 |
| 2016 | 7,982 | #44 | 4.2 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 8,826 | #37 | 4.6 |
| 2014 | 9,245 | #35 | 4.8 |
| 2013 | 9,612 | #32 | 5.1 |
| 2012 | 9,977 | #32 | 5.3 |
| 2011 | 10,040 | #32 | 5.3 |
| 2010 | 10,485 | #32 | 5.5 |
| 2009 | 11,001 | #31 | 5.5 |
| 2008 | 10,579 | #34 | 5.2 |
| 2007 | 10,954 | #36 | 5.3 |
| 2006 | 11,001 | #34 | 5.4 |
| 2005 | 10,894 | #35 | 5.5 |
| 2004 | 11,307 | #33 | 5.7 |
| 2003 | 11,643 | #34 | 5.9 |
| 2002 | 11,665 | #35 | 6.0 |
| 2001 | 11,177 | #37 | 5.8 |
| 2000 | 9,866 | #38 | 5.0 |
| 1999 | 9,281 | #41 | 4.8 |
| 1998 | 9,028 | #42 | 4.7 |
| 1997 | 7,775 | #47 | 4.1 |
| 1996 | 7,550 | #48 | 4.0 |
| 1995 | 6,655 | #54 | 3.5 |
| 1994 | 6,161 | #60 | 3.2 |
| 1993 | 5,788 | #66 | 3.0 |
| 1992 | 5,042 | #74 | 2.5 |
| 1991 | 4,864 | #78 | 2.4 |
| 1990 | 4,154 | #88 | 2.0 |
| 1989 | 3,788 | #91 | 1.9 |
| 1988 | 2,817 | #108 | 1.5 |
| 1987 | 2,502 | #115 | 1.3 |
| 1986 | 2,097 | #131 | 1.1 |
| 1985 | 2,083 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1984 | 1,650 | #163 | 0.91 |
| 1983 | 1,716 | #159 | 1.0 |
| 1982 | 1,583 | #170 | 0.87 |
| 1981 | 1,428 | #175 | 0.80 |
| 1980 | 980 | #235 | 0.55 |
| 1979 | 860 | #247 | 0.50 |
| 1978 | 702 | #275 | 0.43 |
| 1977 | 712 | #274 | 0.43 |
| 1976 | 525 | #330 | 0.33 |
| 1975 | 415 | #381 | 0.27 |
| 1974 | 301 | #460 | 0.19 |
| 1973 | 185 | #584 | 0.12 |
| 1972 | 114 | #740 | 0.07 |
| 1971 | 104 | #790 | 0.06 |
| 1970 | 94 | #832 | 0.05 |
| 1969 | 77 | #873 | 0.04 |
| 1968 | 61 | #932 | 0.04 |
| 1967 | 36 | #1,255 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 63 | #917 | 0.04 |
| 1965 | 41 | #1,193 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 58 | #990 | 0.03 |
| 1963 | 47 | #1,123 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 46 | #1,137 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 39 | #1,264 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 50 | #1,099 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 45 | #1,157 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 55 | #1,028 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 45 | #1,151 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 48 | #1,093 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 40 | #1,184 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 33 | #1,312 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 36 | #1,244 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 39 | #1,182 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 39 | #1,154 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 36 | #1,204 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 31 | #1,299 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 38 | #1,160 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 44 | #1,095 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 32 | #1,239 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 19 | #1,540 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 25 | #1,336 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 32 | #1,220 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 28 | #1,318 | 0.02 |
| 1941 | 33 | #1,156 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 30 | #1,229 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 30 | #1,200 | 0.03 |
| 1938 | 37 | #1,065 | 0.03 |
| 1937 | 27 | #1,289 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 29 | #1,227 | 0.03 |
| 1935 | 28 | #1,274 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 39 | #1,041 | 0.04 |
| 1933 | 37 | #1,082 | 0.04 |
| 1932 | 43 | #1,006 | 0.04 |
| 1931 | 25 | #1,397 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 21 | #1,608 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 29 | #1,315 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 26 | #1,453 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 43 | #1,083 | 0.04 |
| 1926 | 39 | #1,146 | 0.04 |
| 1925 | 56 | #904 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 44 | #1,073 | 0.04 |
| 1923 | 37 | #1,178 | 0.03 |
| 1922 | 52 | #979 | 0.05 |
| 1921 | 38 | #1,164 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 52 | #960 | 0.05 |
| 1919 | 34 | #1,208 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 49 | #949 | 0.05 |
| 1917 | 46 | #948 | 0.05 |
| 1916 | 39 | #1,031 | 0.04 |
| 1915 | 39 | #1,018 | 0.05 |
| 1914 | 36 | #909 | 0.05 |
| 1913 | 24 | #1,026 | 0.05 |
| 1912 | 20 | #1,028 | 0.05 |
| 1911 | 15 | #864 | 0.07 |
| 1910 | 15 | #787 | 0.08 |
| 1909 | 14 | #763 | 0.09 |
| 1908 | 8 | #1,031 | 0.05 |
| 1907 | 10 | #878 | 0.07 |
| 1906 | 14 | #648 | 0.11 |
| 1905 | 9 | #847 | 0.07 |
| 1904 | 10 | #768 | 0.08 |
| 1903 | 11 | #704 | 0.09 |
| 1902 | 11 | #694 | 0.09 |
| 1901 | 8 | #786 | 0.08 |
| 1900 | 11 | #793 | 0.07 |
| 1899 | 7 | #870 | 0.07 |
| 1898 | 7 | #899 | 0.06 |
| 1897 | 9 | #734 | 0.08 |
| 1896 | 13 | #601 | 0.11 |
| 1895 | 10 | #696 | 0.09 |
| 1894 | 6 | #972 | 0.05 |
| 1893 | 11 | #621 | 0.10 |
| 1892 | 11 | #645 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 7 | #777 | 0.07 |
| 1890 | 8 | #754 | 0.07 |
| 1889 | 19 | #416 | 0.17 |
| 1888 | 17 | #466 | 0.14 |
| 1887 | 13 | #493 | 0.13 |
| 1886 | 14 | #492 | 0.13 |
| 1885 | 16 | #465 | 0.15 |
| 1884 | 17 | #454 | 0.15 |
| 1883 | 16 | #449 | 0.15 |
| 1882 | 25 | #356 | 0.22 |
| 1881 | 18 | #397 | 0.18 |
| 1880 | 27 | #327 | 0.24 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Caleb a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Caleb has been given almost only to boys: 653 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Caleb: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Caleb, and how old are they?
317,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 325,003 Americans ever recorded as Caleb. The median Caleb alive today is 20 years old; half are between 12 and 28.
The 2020 Census counted 264,107 people named Caleb (595 women and girls, 263,512 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 286,401 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 101 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 538 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,800 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 57,500 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 164,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 89,600 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Caleb born?
The states with the most babies named Caleb are California, Texas and Florida, with 33% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 678 | #50 | 0.6× |
| Texas | 610 | #52 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 418 | #39 | 1.0× |
| New York | 293 | #56 | 0.5× |
| Pennsylvania | 211 | #54 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 183 | #57 | 1.3× |
| Illinois | 176 | #55 | 0.8× |
| New Jersey | 171 | #52 | 0.5× |
| Georgia | 165 | #61 | 1.2× |
| Virginia | 155 | #43 | 1.2× |
Where Caleb is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Caleb is most over-represented in Tennessee: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Caleb with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 420,372 babies since 1880, Caleb is the most given (77% of them). In 2025 it was given to 5,217 of their 6,445 babies (81%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Caleb
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Caleb and names like it
- Compare Caleb and KalebBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sCaleb peaked in 2002.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Caleb since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Caleb: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2002The year the most babies were named Caleb.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Caleb alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with CMost given first.