Callie
Masculine
Callie is given to girls far more often — 70,190 girls against 637 boys since 1880. See Callie as a girl name
Callie has been an American name since before records began, a pet form of Caroline and of Calliope that stood on its own early. It has been the name of an Oscar-winning screenwriter and, by long habit, of half the calico cats in the country.
How old is the name Callie?
Callie first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Callie alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 200 people named Callie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Callie most popular?
Callie peaked in 1884, reaching #701 nationally. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Caroline to Callie
The story of Callie
Callie was already a given name in its own right when American records began, especially in the South. Its best-known modern bearer is the screenwriter Callie Khouri, whose first produced script, Thelma and Louise, won the Academy Award for best original screenplay. The sound also belongs to calico, a cotton cloth named for Calicut in India, where it was made, and so to calico cats; because the orange and black coat colors are carried on the X chromosome, a cat with all three colors is almost always female, and Callie became one of the standard names for them.
Meaningscholars disagree
A pet form of Caroline or of Calliope, 'beautiful voice'
Callie can come from Caroline, the feminine of Charles, or from Calliope, the Greek muse of epic poetry, whose name means 'beautiful voice'. Most Callies cannot say which.
How the name formed
- Caroline
- Callie
Related forms: Kalliope · Caroline · Kallie · Cally
Pronouncing Callie
KAL-ee
Two syllables, rhyming with valley.
Nicknames for Callie
Limited
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
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 191818 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #701reached in 1884
- Change vs 2008
- 0.0%5 in 2021, from 5
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.
Callie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kalliope in Greek — related form
- Caroline in English — related form
- Kallie in English — spelling variant
- Cally in English — spelling variant
Callies among us
people named Callie 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
Callie 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
- Instantly familiar and easy to spell.
- A long, unbroken American history.
- Can stand alone or be paired with Caroline or Calliope as a formal name.
- Many people will assume it is short for something and ask for the full name.
- Kallie, Cali and Kali are all common, so expect to specify the spelling.
- The spelling is recorded for a handful of boys too; a boy called Callie would usually be taken for a girl.
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Callie
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Callies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Callie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Callie in 2025?
- Callie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Callie with classmates?
- Callie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Charles#48 · Christopher#68 · Carl#1132 · Christian#96 · Caleb#58 · Cameron#76 · Carlos#150 · Clarence#1499
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Callie? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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