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Cale

#2,722 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Caleb

Cale has been given to 8,291 babies in the U.S. since 1917. In 2025 it ranked #2,722 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2008, with 395 recorded.

Babies named Cale, 2025

1 in 70,500

Cale over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cale: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Caleb

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cale means

Cale is a short form of Caleb.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Cale → Caleb. The family’s meaning is “dog”, recorded in the naming reference for Caleb.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Caleb.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,207 boys were recorded with the name Cale between 1917 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 395 in 2008; its best national rank was #596 in 1984.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,890 in 2020 to #2,722 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,279 in 2015 to #2,722 in 2025.

In the United States, 84 girls were recorded with the name Cale between 2006 and 2010. Its highest annual count was 34 in 2006; its best national rank was #4,275 in 2006.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Cale?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 70,500
47 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 36,300
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,722
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
48,893 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cale sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 48,893 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cale. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cales were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cale was born before 2002 — so the typical Cale is around 23 today.

Median birth year
2002
About 23 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
33.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
52.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
8,172
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 33.2% of all recorded uses (2,721).

Is Cale rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+503
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+168
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,443
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.34×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
11.9%
Peak was 2008 (395)
Years since peak
17
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#596
1984

Spellings of Cale

Cale is not the most common spelling — Carl is, with 13.0% against Cale's 0.21%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Cale is used

Across 2016–2025, Cale was most concentrated in Colorado — about 1 in 14,286 boys, against 1 in 65,644 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

07 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Colorado1 in 14,286
  2. 2Iowa1 in 20,000
  3. 3Oklahoma1 in 20,000
  4. 4Missouri1 in 25,000
  5. 5Ohio1 in 50,000
  6. 6Florida1 in 100,000
  7. 7Georgia1 in 100,000
  8. 8Illinois1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Cale around the world

Where Cale ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2018
    #4,749
    in 2018
  • Scotland
    2000–2010
    #548
    in 2010
  • Ireland
    2006–2006
    #596
    in 2006
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,698
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1965–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Cale

People whose public names include Cale, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Cale in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Cale. Linked forms have their own page here.

CalKaleCalebCalle

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Cale by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,722
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 168
Best rank ever
#596
1984
Peak year
2008
395 that year
First recorded
1917
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,207
Count in 2025
47

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,275
2006
Peak year
2006
34 that year
First recorded
2006
Last recorded
2010
All-time count
84
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cale

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CalKaleCalumCallenGaleCallanCalenCallumCalinCalderCalanCalixCaliHaleCalobCallahanCalemCalvertYaleCalilCalebPasqualeCalelCalyx

Names with a curve like Cale

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Cale, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

NathenDavinJerimiahCristopherAlexandroJeramiahJermiahJohnpaulTrevinEstevanChristoferTye

Sibling names for Cale

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cale

Top names of 2008, Cale's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1984Boys' names starting with C