Cal
A diminutive of the masculine name Calvin, of Latin origin meaning "hairless" or "bald".
Name Census estimates that about 6,054 living Americans carry the first name Cal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cal today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cal births was 2024 (408 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cal. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Cal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.1K
~ 1 in 56,616 Americans
Peak year
2024
408 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#670
Tracked since 1880
Census
Cal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,529 people with the first name Cal, which placed it at #3,677 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,677
National first-name rank
People counted
5.5K
5,529 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cal is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.3%) and Hispanic (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cal described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.2% · 4,324
- Black or African American9.3% · 516
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 265
- Two or more races4.1% · 224
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 155
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 45
Gender
Gender distribution for Cal
Out of the 7,313 babies given the name Cal since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Cal as a male name
- Ranked #670 in 2024
- 408 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (408 births)
Cal as a female name
- Ranked #5,930 in 1955
- 5 female births in 1955
- Peak: 1954 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cal leans strongly male. 5,310 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 219 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Cal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cal from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,622 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cal by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. California, Texas, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Cal, while Mississippi, Virginia, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 86 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cal
The name Cal is a diminutive form of the male given name Caleb, which has Hebrew origins. Caleb is derived from the Hebrew word "kelev," meaning "dog" or "whole-hearted." The name gained popularity after appearing in the Bible's Old Testament, where Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore the Promised Land.
In the Book of Numbers, Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies who remained loyal to God and encouraged the Israelites to conquer the land. As a result, Caleb was rewarded with the territory around Hebron. This biblical association contributed significantly to the name's widespread use among various Christian communities throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cal as a diminutive form can be traced back to the 12th century. Callo, a variant spelling, was used in medieval England and Scotland. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name gained traction among Puritans in England and later in the American colonies, where it was often spelled as Cal.
Notable historical figures with the name Cal include Cal Hubbard (1900-1977), an American baseball player who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Athletics; Cal Coolidge (1872-1933), the 30th President of the United States, whose full name was John Calvin Coolidge; and Cal Ripken Jr. (born 1960), a legendary baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, known for his record-breaking streak of 2,632 consecutive games played.
Other prominent individuals with the name Cal include Cal Tjader (1925-1982), an American jazz musician and pioneer of the Latin jazz movement; and Cal Farley (1903-1967), an American businessman and philanthropist who founded Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, a renowned organization dedicated to helping at-risk youth.
Throughout history, the name Cal has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions across various fields, including sports, politics, music, and philanthropy. Its biblical origins and enduring popularity have solidified its place as a respected and recognizable given name.
People
Cal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,054 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cal going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 56,616 US residents.
Is Cal a common name?
We classify Cal as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,313 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cal most popular?
The single biggest year for Cal was 2024, when 408 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cal is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,529 people with the name Cal, or 1.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,677 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cal in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cal leans strongly male. 5,310 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 219 female bearers (4.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cal is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.3%) and Hispanic (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (4,324 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cal a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Cal in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cal in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cal can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Cal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.