Caleb
Feminine · “dog”
Caleb is given to boys far more often — 324,350 boys against 653 girls since 1880. See Caleb as a boy name
Caleb is one of the very few biblical men's names that never developed a standard short form, so American families say the whole of it. The man it belongs to is remembered for disagreeing with ten colleagues in public and being right.
How old is the name Caleb?
Caleb first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Caleb alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 600 people named Caleb are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Caleb most popular?
Caleb peaked in 2004, reaching #2711 nationally. See the whole 2004 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Kalev to Caleb
The story of Caleb
Twelve scouts are sent into Canaan to report on it. Ten come back saying the land is good and the people in it are giants, and the nation panics; Caleb and Joshua say the same land can be taken and are nearly stoned for it. The sentence that follows is that the whole generation which believed the majority will die in the wilderness over forty years, and that the two who dissented will be the only men of their age to cross. Caleb turns up again decades later asking for the hill country he had scouted, on the grounds that he is as fit as he was then, and he gets it. The story is unusual in the Hebrew Bible for being about a committee, and for treating the minority report as the faithful one.
Meaningscholars disagree
dog
The plain Hebrew reading is dog, which was not the insult in that culture that it is in ours — a dog is loyal and follows. An alternative reading takes it from words for whole and heart, which the text itself hints at when it repeatedly says he followed wholeheartedly. Neither has won.
How the name formed
- Kalev
- Caleb
Related forms: כָּלֵב · Caleb
Pronouncing Caleb
KAY-lub
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Hebrew says kah-LEV, with the weight at the back and a v at the end, which is a noticeably different word.
Nicknames for Caleb
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1980
- Most girls named
- 200460 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2711reached in 2004
- Change vs 2023
- +12.5%9 in 2024, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Caleb in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- כָּלֵב in Hebrew — same name
- Caleb in Spanish — same name
Calebs among us
people named Caleb are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Caleb sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is instantly recognizable without being difficult for anybody.
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest shape English has.
- The spelling is stable, which is rare in a name this common.
- The plain reading of the name is dog, which some families mind.
- Kaleb and Calev are both recorded and will be written for it.
- It has no short form, so there is no retreat from the full name.
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What they receive
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Caleb
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Calebs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Caleb are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Caleb in 2025?
- Caleb is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Caleb with classmates?
- Caleb will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Caleb? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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