Cayleb
Masculine · “Hebrew kelev”
Caleb means dog. Hebrew kelev is the ordinary word for one, and in the Bible dogs are not affectionate company: they scavenge, they are used as insults, and being called one is never a compliment. Caleb is nonetheless one of the two spies who came back from Canaan with a good report, and one of two men of his generation permitted to enter the land.
How old is the name Cayleb?
Cayleb first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Cayleb alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 1,000 people named Cayleb are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cayleb most popular?
Cayleb peaked in 2009, reaching #1825 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 6,418 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kelev to Cayleb
The story of Cayleb
The dog occupies a very different place in Hebrew and in Irish naming, and the contrast is instructive. In early Irish a hound is the highest comparison available for a warrior, which is why Conall, Conan, Conor and Cuchulainn all contain the word. In the Hebrew Bible the dog is a scavenger at the edge of settlement, and to be called one is to be called worthless. Yet Caleb is a positive figure throughout: in Numbers 13 he alone with Joshua urges going up into the land, and Joshua 14 records him at eighty-five asking for the hill country. The name may reflect a clan name, since Caleb is described as a Kenizzite, from a group absorbed into Judah, and animal names for clans are common in the region. The spelling Cayleb changes nothing audible and does what most respellings do, making the vowel explicit.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew kelev, a dog
The usual derivation is from Hebrew kelev, a dog, which would make it a name of the kind given for loyalty or, in some readings, humility. An alternative reads it as a compound of kol, all, and lev, heart, meaning wholehearted, which fits the text's repeated description of Caleb as wholly following the Lord but is grammatically strained. Cayleb is an American respelling using ay for the first vowel. It peaks in 2009.
How the name formed
- kelev
- Caleb
- Cayleb
Related forms: Caleb · Kalev · Caleb
Pronouncing Cayleb
KAY-leb
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Hebrew Kalev is kah-LEV with the stress at the end and a v rather than a b, since Hebrew bet without a dot is pronounced v.
Nicknames for Cayleb
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
- 1989
- Most boys named
- 200981 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1825reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −18.2%9 in 2025, from 11
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.
Cayleb in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caleb in English — spelling variant
- Kalev in Hebrew — transliteration
- Caleb in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Caylebs among us
people named Cayleb are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Cayleb
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cayleb
- #8243
- Cayleb on the 2025 chart
- #882
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cayleb went to 9 boys in 2025, but Kayleb and Kaileb are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 46, which makes it the 882nd most-given boys’ name of the year — 7,361 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 37,132 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 189,786 for Cayleb 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 Kimmie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cayleb's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kimmie climbed just as high around 1954, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kimmie's path sketches the road Cayleb is walking now.
Cayleb 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
Cayleb beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cayleb in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The biblical figure is a wholly positive one.
- Cal and Cale are both clean short forms.
- The name has been in continuous English use since the Reformation.
- Caleb is the standard spelling by a very wide margin.
- The likeliest meaning is dog, which some families will not want.
- The ay spelling adds a letter and no sound.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Cayleb to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Cayleb? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Cayleb
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Caylebs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Cayleb are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Cayleb?
- Cayleb is one of 3 recorded spellings. Kayleb is the more common one — 31 births in 2025 against 9 for Cayleb.
- How popular is the name Cayleb in 2025?
- Cayleb ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cayleb?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Cayleb — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cayleb with classmates?
- Cayleb will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cayleb
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Danial#8243 · Ogden#8243 · Aaren#8243 · Trinity#8243 · Kourtney#8243 · Maury#8243 · Lindon#8243 · Elbert#8243
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cayleb? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cayleb and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle