Calista
Feminine · “most beautiful”
Calista is most beautiful, in Greek — a superlative, like Karissa, and the name of a nymph Zeus pursued and Hera turned into a bear.
How old is the name Calista?
Calista first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Calista alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 7,000 people named Calista are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Calista most popular?
Calista peaked in 1999, reaching #519 nationally. Today it ranks #1592, 1,073 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Where it comes from
From kallistos to Calista
The story of Calista
Callisto was a companion of Artemis whom Zeus pursued and Hera turned into a bear; Zeus set her in the sky as the Great Bear, and Jupiter's fourth Galilean moon carries her name. The name reached English through Greek and Spanish use, and Calista rose in American records from the 1990s. It is in current use.
Meaning
most beautiful
From the Greek kallistos, 'most beautiful', the superlative of kalos, 'beautiful'. The feminine kalliste gives Callisto and Calista. The Greek is ordinary and the meaning undisputed. It is one of the few names that is grammatically a superlative rather than a description.
How the name formed
- kallistos
- Kalliste
- Calista
Related forms: Calista · Callista · Καλλίστη
Pronouncing Calista
kuh-LIS-tuh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Greek Kalliste puts the stress in the same place.
Nicknames for Calista
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
- 1894
- Most girls named
- 2000401 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #519reached in 1999
- Change vs 2022
- +14.9%131 in 2025, from 114
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.
Calista in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Calista in Spanish — same name
- Callista in Italian — spelling variant
- Καλλίστη in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Calistas among us
people named Calista are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,269 born in 2025 was named Calista
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Calista
- #1592
- Calista on the 2025 chart
- #733
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Calista went to 131 girls in 2025, but Callista, Kalista and Kallista are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 229, which makes it the 733rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 859 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 7,019 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 12,269 for Calista itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Velva test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Calista's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Velva climbed just as high around 1913, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Velva's path sketches the road Calista is walking now.
Calista is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Calista is headed
Calista should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Calista beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Calista in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is a superlative rather than a description, which is genuinely unusual.
- A constellation and a moon of Jupiter carry the related form.
- Cali is a short form with real modern currency.
- The myth attached to it is a story of pursuit and punishment.
- Callista with two l's is the older spelling.
- Christina and Calista are close enough in sound to be misheard.
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What they receive
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Calista
Feminine · #1592 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Calistas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,000 people named Calista are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Calista?
- Calista is the most-used spelling in US records — 131 of the 229 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Callista, Kalista and Kallista.
- How popular is the name Calista in 2025?
- Calista ranks #1592 among US girl names in 2025, with 131 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Calista?
- About 1 in every 12,269 US girls born in 2025 was named Calista — 131 in all.
- Will my child share the name Calista with classmates?
- Calista will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Calista
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aislinn#1592 · Alaiyah#1592 · Lani#1592 · Kaelyn#1592 · Journie#1592 · Lailah#1592 · Ever#1592 · Cienna#1592
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Calista? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Calista and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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