Callaway
Feminine
Callaway is given to both — 582 girls and 639 boys since 1880. See Callaway as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Callaway is the church field — the Old French calva and the Irish ceallach — a surname whose two proposed origins are both real.
How old is the name Callaway?
Callaway first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Callaway is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Callaway are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Callaway most popular?
Callaway peaked in 2025, reaching #2036 nationally. Today it ranks #2036, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Callaway
Our story of Callaway is a story of two families with one spelling. Norman settlers brought de Calloway to England, and Irish record-keeping ground Ó Ceallaigh and Ó Callaghan toward the same sound; by the time both reached America they were written alike and no one could separate them. The surname became a golf brand in the 1980s and a given name for girls in the 2010s. Both ancestries are genuine; which one a family carries is usually unrecoverable.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The surname's origin is genuinely split. One route is the Norman de Calloway, from a French place name built on calva, 'bare' or 'bald'. A second is the Irish Ó Callaghan, from Ceallachán, related to ceallach, 'strife' or possibly 'church-goer'. Neither is established for the given name.
Pronouncing Callaway
KAL-uh-way
Three syllables, stress on the first. Callaway and Calloway are said identically.
Nicknames for Callaway
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
- 1994
- Most girls named
- 202593 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2036reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +57.6%93 in 2025, from 59
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.
Callaway in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Calloway in English — spelling variant
- Ó Callaghan in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Georgia, Texas, Tennessee.
Callaways among us
people named Callaway are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 17,282 born in 2025 was named Callaway
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Milinda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Callaway's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Milinda climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Milinda's path sketches the road Callaway is walking now.
Callaway sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Callaway is headed
Callaway looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 32% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Callaway beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Callaway in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Callie and Cal are two short forms, both with real records.
- Three syllables with a front stress, which holds up against a short surname.
- It is genuinely rare as a given name.
- The surname's origin is split between two unrelated routes.
- A golf equipment brand is a strong American association.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
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What they receive
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Callaway
Feminine · #2036 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Callaways 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 Callaway are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Callaway in 2025?
- Callaway ranks #2036 among US girl names in 2025, with 93 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Callaway?
- About 1 in every 17,282 US girls born in 2025 was named Callaway — 93 in all.
- Will my child share the name Callaway with classmates?
- Callaway will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Callaway
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Moira#2036 · Mayzie#2036 · Aysel#2036 · Jaycie#2036 · Swayze#2036 · Jude#2036 · Marion#2036 · Alyanna#2036
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Callaway? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Callaway and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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