Calab
A masculine name of Hebrew origin typically translated as "dog" or "faithful".
Name Census estimates that about 353 living Americans carry the first name Calab. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Calab today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calab births was 2007 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calab. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
353
~ 1 in 970,975 Americans
Peak year
2007
26 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2018 SSA rank
#12,466
Tracked since 1984
Census
Calab in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 637 people with the first name Calab, which placed it at #17,359 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,359
National first-name rank
People counted
637
637 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calab
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calab is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and Hispanic (12.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Calab described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Calab at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.6% · 424
- Black or African American14.1% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino12.7% · 81
- Two or more races4.1% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 8
Popularity
Calab: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calab from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 151 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calab by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Calab during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calabs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Calab
The name Calab is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient biblical times. It is a variant spelling of the biblical name Caleb, which is derived from the Hebrew word "kelev," meaning "dog" or "faithful companion."
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. He and Joshua were the only two spies who remained faithful to God and encouraged the Israelites to conquer the land, despite the opposition of the other ten spies. Caleb's unwavering faith and loyalty were rewarded, and he was granted the territory around Hebron as his inheritance.
The earliest recorded use of the name Calab dates back to the 16th century, when it appeared as a variant spelling in various historical records and documents. One notable figure from this period was Calab Davenport (1551-1613), an English clergyman and puritan writer who was known for his religious works and sermons.
In the 17th century, Calab Powell (1623-1696) was a prominent English lawyer and Member of Parliament who played a significant role in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which established the constitutional monarchy in England.
During the 18th century, Calab Calvert (1745-1821) was an American planter and politician from Maryland. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and was a signer of the Articles of Confederation.
In the 19th century, Calab Jones (1808-1884) was a British mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of calculus and the study of heat conduction.
Another notable figure from this period was Calab Cushing (1800-1879), an American lawyer and statesman who served as the Attorney General of the United States under President Franklin Pierce.
While the name Calab has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been used by individuals from various backgrounds and professions, reflecting its biblical and historical significance.
People
Calab + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calab as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Calab: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calab?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calab going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 970,975 US residents.
Is Calab a common name?
We classify Calab as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 360 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calab most popular?
The single biggest year for Calab was 2007, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calab is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calab in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 637 people with the name Calab, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,359 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Calab in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Calab?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calab appears almost entirely male. Of the 634 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Calab?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calab is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and Hispanic (12.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Calab most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calab in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.6% (424 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Calab in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calab a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calab in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Calab still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calab in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Calab can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Calab?
Want to know how many people share the name Calab? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.