Calahan
An Irish name meaning "bright-headed" or "bright hair".
Name Census estimates that about 262 living Americans carry the first name Calahan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Calahan today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calahan births was 2020 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calahan. 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
262
~ 1 in 1,308,223 Americans
Peak year
2020
19 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,208
Tracked since 1986
Census
Calahan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Calahan, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calahan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calahan is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Calahan 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 Calahan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 203
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 12
- Two or more races4.4% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
- Black or African American0.4% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Calahan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calahan from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 76 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calahan 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 Calahan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calahan
The given name Calahan is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic words "calath" meaning "hardy" and "ánan" meaning "little". It emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th century, in Ireland's rural regions where Gaelic language and culture thrived.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Calahan can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. It refers to Calahan Ó Súilleabháin, a notable warrior and chieftain from County Cork, who lived in the late 12th century.
During the 16th century, the name gained prominence among Irish Catholic families, particularly in the counties of Cork and Kerry. Calahan O'Callaghan, born in 1551, was a renowned bard and poet who composed works celebrating Irish heritage and culture.
In the 17th century, Calahan Maol Ó Conaill, born in 1628, was a respected scholar and historian from County Donegal. His writings documented the struggles of the Irish people during the Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
As Irish immigration to the Americas increased in the 19th century, the name Calahan made its way across the Atlantic. One notable figure was Calahan O'Reilly, born in 1839, a prominent Irish-American politician and civil rights advocate who served as a member of the New York State Assembly.
Another historical figure bearing the name Calahan was Calahan McDermott, born in 1875, a renowned Irish-American architect. He designed several iconic buildings in New York City, including the Flatiron Building and the New York Public Library's main branch.
Throughout its history, the name Calahan has been associated with Irish heritage, resilience, and cultural pride. While its prevalence may have waned in modern times, it remains a testament to the rich tapestry of Irish names and their enduring legacy.
People
Calahan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calahan 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
Calahan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calahan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 262 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calahan 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 1,308,223 US residents.
Is Calahan a common name?
We classify Calahan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 265 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calahan most popular?
The single biggest year for Calahan was 2020, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calahan is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calahan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Calahan, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Calahan 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 Calahan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calahan leans strongly male. 206 people counted with this name were male (89.2%), compared with 25 female bearers (10.8%). 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 Calahan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calahan is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Calahan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calahan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (203 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 Calahan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calahan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calahan 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 Calahan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calahan 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 Calahan 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 Americans are named Calahan?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.