Calin
A masculine name of Romanian origin meaning "sweet, affectionate, tender".
Name Census estimates that about 1,350 living Americans carry the first name Calin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Calin today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calin births was 2011 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calin. 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 Calin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 253,892 Americans
Peak year
2011
70 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,257
Tracked since 1960
Census
Calin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,586 people with the first name Calin, which placed it at #8,959 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
#8,959
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,586 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calin is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Calin 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 Calin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.6% · 1,262
- Black or African American7.7% · 122
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 101
- Two or more races3.6% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Calin
Calin leans heavily male at 83.7% of total registrations, but 224 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Calin as a male name
- Ranked #5,257 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (64 births)
Calin as a female name
- Ranked #17,053 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2001 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calin leans strongly male. 1,347 people counted with this name were male (84.7%), compared with 243 female bearers (15.3%).
Popularity
Calin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calin from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 398 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calin 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 Calin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Georgia, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Calin, while Washington, Texas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calin
The name Calin has its origins in the Romanian language. It is a diminutive form of the name Calina, which is derived from the Greek word "kalos," meaning beautiful or handsome. The name was initially used in the regions of present-day Romania and Moldova, where the Romanian language has been spoken for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Calin can be found in a 16th-century document from the region of Wallachia, which was part of the Romanian principalities at the time. The document mentions a boyar (nobleman) named Calin, although specific details about his life and accomplishments are limited.
In the 17th century, the name gained popularity among the Romanian nobility and was associated with individuals of high social standing. One notable figure from this period was Calin Brancoveanu (1654-1714), a Prince of Wallachia who is remembered for his cultural and architectural contributions, including the construction of the Brancoveanu Palace in Bucharest.
As the name spread beyond the borders of Romania, it gained recognition in other parts of Europe and the world. In the 19th century, a French poet named Calin Lenoir (1803-1859) gained acclaim for his works, which celebrated the beauty of nature and the human spirit.
Another noteworthy individual was Calin Popescu-Tăriceanu (born 1952), a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2004 to 2008. His political career spanned several decades, and he played a significant role in Romania's transition to democracy after the fall of communism.
More recently, the name has been associated with artists and public figures, such as Calin Georgescu (born 1953), a Romanian-Canadian composer and conductor known for his contributions to contemporary classical music. Calin Petcu (born 1982) is a Romanian professional basketball player who has represented his country in international competitions.
While the name Calin has maintained its Romanian roots, it has also gained recognition in other countries and cultures, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its connection to the concept of beauty and its historical ties to the Romanian culture and language remain an integral part of its meaning and significance.
People
Calin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calin 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
Calin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,350 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calin 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 253,892 US residents.
Is Calin a common name?
We classify Calin as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,376 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calin most popular?
The single biggest year for Calin was 2011, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calin is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,586 people with the name Calin, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,959 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 Calin 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 Calin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calin leans strongly male. 1,347 people counted with this name were male (84.7%), compared with 243 female bearers (15.3%). 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 Calin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calin is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Hispanic (6.4%). 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 Calin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.6% (1,262 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 Calin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calin a male name?
Yes, 83.7% of people registered as Calin 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 Calin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calin 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 Calin 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 have the name Calin?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Calin, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.