Calloway
From Old French meaning "person from Calais".
Name Census estimates that about 655 living Americans carry the first name Calloway. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Calloway today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calloway births was 2024 (109 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calloway. 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.
People living today
655
~ 1 in 523,289 Americans
Peak year
2024
109 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,849
Tracked since 1912
Census
Calloway in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 429 people with the first name Calloway, which placed it at #22,989 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
#22,989
National first-name rank
People counted
429
429 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calloway
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calloway is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (7.0%). 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 Calloway 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 Calloway at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.0% · 313
- Black or African American13.3% · 57
- Two or more races7.0% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Calloway
Calloway leans heavily male at 83.8% of total registrations, but 115 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Calloway as a male name
- Ranked #1,849 in 2024
- 87 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (87 births)
Calloway as a female name
- Ranked #5,637 in 2024
- 22 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (22 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Calloway on both sides of the split. Of the 429 people counted with this name, 326 were male (76.0%) and 103 were female (24.0%).
Popularity
Calloway: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calloway from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 375 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
Calloway 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 Calloway during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calloways live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Calloway, while Missouri, Indiana, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calloway
The given name Calloway has its origins in the English language, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "calu" (bald) and "wealh" (foreigner or stranger), possibly referring to a person with a bald or tonsured head who was a foreigner or outsider.
The name Calloway was initially associated with several regions in England, particularly in the northern counties of Yorkshire and Northumberland. It is thought to have been used as a surname before becoming a popular first name in its own right.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Calloway can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a person named "Caluuualoc" residing in the village of Potterspury, Northamptonshire.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Calloway was Sir Calloway de Bouville, a Norman knight who fought alongside King Richard I during the Third Crusade (1189-1192). He was renowned for his bravery and loyalty to the English crown.
During the 15th century, the name Calloway gained prominence with the birth of Calloway Carew (1420-1492), a wealthy landowner and member of the gentry in Somerset, England. He was instrumental in the construction of several churches and monasteries in the region.
Another significant bearer of the name was Calloway Leighton (1609-1671), an English philosopher and theologian who made significant contributions to the field of metaphysics. His work "On the Nature of Being" was widely acclaimed in academic circles of the time.
In the realm of literature, the name Calloway is associated with the English poet and playwright Calloway Marlowe (1564-1593), best known for his works such as "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus" and "The Jew of Malta."
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who carried the given name Calloway. While its usage may have fluctuated over the centuries, the name has maintained a distinct presence in the English-speaking world, reflecting its rich historical legacy.
People
Calloway + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calloway 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
Calloway: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calloway?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 655 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calloway 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 523,289 US residents.
Is Calloway a common name?
We classify Calloway as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 711 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calloway most popular?
The single biggest year for Calloway was 2024, when 109 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calloway is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calloway in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 429 people with the name Calloway, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,989 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 Calloway 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 Calloway?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Calloway on both sides of the split. Of the 429 people counted with this name, 326 were male (76.0%) and 103 were female (24.0%). 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 Calloway?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calloway is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (7.0%). 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 Calloway most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calloway in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (313 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 Calloway in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calloway a male name?
Yes, 83.8% of people registered as Calloway 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 Calloway still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calloway 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 Calloway 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 named Calloway?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.