Kalem
Masculine · “Latin columba”
Columba is Latin for a dove, and it was the name of the Irish monk who founded Iona in 563 and converted much of Scotland. Scotland kept his name twice over: Callum is Columba directly, and Malcolm is Mael Coluim, the devotee of Columba. Two of Scotland's most used names both point at one bird and one man.
How old is the name Kalem?
Kalem first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Kalem alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 900 people named Kalem are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kalem most popular?
Kalem peaked in 1989, reaching #2690 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 5,553 places below that high. See the whole 1989 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From columba to Kalem
The story of Kalem
Columba's name was a religious choice: he was born Crimthann, which means fox, and took Colum, a dove, on entering monastic life, so the dove is a vocation rather than a birth name. He left Ireland in 563, founded the monastery on Iona, and from there Irish monks converted Pictland and northern Northumbria, which is why the Scottish church was Irish in character for centuries. His name became one of the most used in Scotland, and the mael formation on it, Mael Coluim, produced four medieval Scottish kings and the name Malcolm. The dove itself carried the weight of the Genesis flood story and of the descent of the Spirit at the baptism, so it was among the most loaded images available to a sixth-century monk choosing a name for himself.
Meaning
Latin columba, a dove
Kalem is a respelling of Callum, the Scottish Gaelic Calum, from Latin columba, a dove, the name taken by Saint Columba of Iona. Malcolm is the related Mael Coluim, servant or devotee of Columba, formed with the same mael element that appears in Malachy. Kalem is not a traditional spelling and appears in American and British records from the late twentieth century. It peaks in 1989.
How the name formed
- columba
- Colum
- Callum
- Kalem
Related forms: Calum · Callum · Malcolm
Pronouncing Kalem
KAL-um
Two syllables, stress on the first, short a. The Gaelic Calum has a single l and is said the same way. Kalem invites a reading with a long a, KAY-lem, which the standard spellings block.
Nicknames for Kalem
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
- 1974
- Most boys named
- 201738 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2690reached in 1989
- Change vs 2024
- −30.8%9 in 2025, from 13
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.
Kalem in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Calum in Scottish Gaelic — same name
- Callum in English — spelling variant
- Malcolm in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Kalems among us
people named Kalem are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Kalem
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kalem
- #8243
- Kalem on the 2025 chart
- #895
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kalem went to 9 boys in 2025, but Calem and Kaleem are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 33, which makes it the 895th most-given boys’ name of the year — 7,348 places above the chart.
- Calem12
- Kaleem12
- Kalem9
About 1 boy in 51,760 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 189,786 for Kalem 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 Laval test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kalem's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Laval climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Laval's path sketches the road Kalem is walking now.
Kalem 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
Kalem beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kalem in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and the historical figure is fully documented.
- Cal is a clean, current short form.
- The connection to Malcolm is genuine and interesting.
- Callum and Calum are the standard spellings.
- The single l permits a long-vowel reading.
- It is rare in the United States and will need spelling out.
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What they receive
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Kalem
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kalems are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Kalem are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kalem?
- Kalem is one of 3 recorded spellings. Calem is the more common one — 12 births in 2025 against 9 for Kalem.
- How popular is the name Kalem in 2025?
- Kalem ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kalem?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Kalem — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kalem with classmates?
- Kalem will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kalem
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 Kalem? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kalem and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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