Caleb
given name · Latin script
Recorded as a male name· opposite-gender records fall within measured source noise
Caleb is a given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the United States than in any other country. Recorded meaning: The name Caleb is related to the Hebrew word for 'dog' (כֶּלֶב, kelev), which can connote faithfulness or, in ancient Near Eastern contexts, servitude.
- USUnited States1 in 1.3K(measured from records)
- NGNigeria≈1 in 3.5K
- AUAustralia≈1 in 4.3K
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). Where a country counts another spelling of the name rather than Caleb itself, the figure is that spelling’s, and it is named. One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- United States (measured from records)
- 2 (measured from records)
- Sources
- 546 (measured from records)
- 1 in 1.3K (inferred from the name graph)
264,107 people, 2020
recorded for this name
Highest-authority source
United States
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Spellings & scripts(measured from records)
Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.
Meaning & origin(measured from records)
The name Caleb is related to the Hebrew word for 'dog' (כֶּלֶב, kelev), which can connote faithfulness or, in ancient Near Eastern contexts, servitude. The name Carmi is believed to mean "my vineyard".
Sources 1
- Biblical Names Compiled Database
Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.
Where in the world(measured from records)
Caleb counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | #670 | 264,107 | 1 in 1.3K | 264K | Caleb | 546 |
| NG Nigeria | #854 | ≈60,000 est. | ≈1 in 3.5K | — | Caleb | 106 |
| BR Brazil | — | 18,957as Kaleb | 1 in 11K | 19K | — | 5 |
| AU Australia | #580 | ≈6,000 est. | ≈1 in 4.3K | 140 | Caleb | 213 |
| EC Ecuador | — | 4,135 | 1 in 4.1K | 4.1K | — | 20 |
| NZ New Zealand | #358 | ≈1,100 est. | ≈1 in 4.5K | 60 | Caleb | 117 |
264,107 people counted by Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex, 2020. Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; Australian national given names (aggregated state BDM); IBGE — names by decade (Kaggle mirror); INEC — civil registry names; DIA — Baby name popularity (1900–present). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses(measured from records)
Caleb is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
Most likely derived from the Hebrew 'kelev' (dog), implying loyalty or servitude; traditionally interpreted by some as 'wholehearted' (kol-lev).
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
He symbolizes unwavering faith, courage against the majority opinion, and the vigor of the righteous in old age.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
A name implying devotion, faithfulness, and bravery.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
In French, Biblical Hebrew name, from kālēb meaning 'dog'.
as a nameLe grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)
Biblical name, borne by an early Israelite, one of only two of those who set out with Moses from Egypt to live long enough to enter the promised land (Numbers 26:65). The name, which is apparently derived from the word for ‘dog’ in Hebrew, is said in some traditions to symbolize his devotion to God. It was popular among the Puritans and was introduced by them to America, where it is still in use.
as a nameA concise dictionary of first names
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name(measured from records)
- Caleb Strongb. 1745USMassachusetts lawyer, governor, and US senator 1745-1819
- Caleb Cushingb. 1800USAmerican politician (1800-1879)
- Caleb Bradhamb. 1867USAmerican pharmacist, inventor of Pepsi-Cola
- Caleb Deschanelb. 1944USAmerican cinematographer and director of film and television
- Caleb Carrb. 1955USAmerican novelist, screenwriter and military historian (1955–2024)
- Casey Affleckb. 1975USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
- Caleb Landry Jonesb. 1989USAmerican actor
- Caleb Martinb. 1995USAmerican basketball player (born 1995)
- Caleb Swaniganb. 1997USAmerican basketball player (1997–2022)
- Caleb McLaughlinb. 2001USAmerican actor (born 2001)
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Evidence(measured from records)
Attested in 98 sources across 56 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010 | 2010 | 785 | #29,918 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020 | 2020 | 781 | #31,714 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000 | 2000 | 644 | #33,425 |
Reference works 4
- The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
- Wikipedia given-name tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
- Ethiopian name tokens (GitHub lehagere/ethiopian-names, 40/60 condominium list)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Caleb a male or female name?
- Caleb is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.
- What does the name Caleb mean, and where does it come from?
- The name Caleb is related to the Hebrew word for 'dog' (כֶּלֶב, kelev), which can connote faithfulness or, in ancient Near Eastern contexts, servitude. Recorded by Biblical Names Compiled Database.
- In which country does Caleb have the most bearers?
- In the United States, the national register counted about 264 thousand people named Caleb, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled caleb.
- Where is Caleb most common?
- Caleb is densest in the United States, where the national register counts about 1 in 1.3 thousand people carrying it.
- What are other forms of the name Caleb?
- In the etymology graph, Kaleb and Chaleb are forms of the same name in other languages.
- How common is the name Caleb?
- In the United States, the national register counted 264,107 people named Caleb in 2020, about 1 in 1.3 thousand residents.
- How common is Caleb compared with other names?
- In the United States, Caleb is the 670th most common given name of 2,815,431 given names recorded there.
What do you want to know about Caleb?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/calebThe same payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), and bulk access is licensed separately.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Caleb” — the 670th most common given name in United States. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.