Calea
A Romanian feminine name meaning "way" or "path".
Name Census estimates that about 211 living Americans carry the first name Calea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Calea today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calea births was 2006 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calea. 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
211
~ 1 in 1,624,428 Americans
Peak year
2006
12 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,397
Tracked since 1992
Census
Calea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 204 people with the first name Calea, which placed it at #37,948 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
#37,948
National first-name rank
People counted
204
204 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calea is White at 43.1%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). 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 Calea 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 Calea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.1% · 88
- Black or African American35.3% · 72
- Two or more races10.3% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
Popularity
Calea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calea from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 85 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Calea remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calea 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 Calea 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 Calea
The given name Calea originates from the Romanian language. It is derived from the Latin word "calere," which means "to be warm" or "to glow." The name first appeared in Romania during the medieval period, around the 14th or 15th century.
Calea was initially a feminine name associated with warmth, radiance, and vitality. In ancient Romanian folklore, it was believed that individuals bearing this name possessed a warm and affectionate nature, often described as having a "glowing" personality.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Calea can be found in a 16th-century Romanian chronicle, where it was mentioned as the name of a noblewoman. During this time, the name gained popularity among the Romanian aristocracy and upper class.
Historically, the name Calea has been associated with several notable figures. One of the earliest known individuals bearing this name was Calea Basarab (c. 1480-1550), a Romanian noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the cultural and religious life of her time.
Another prominent figure was Calea Callimachi (1510-1575), a Romanian princess and patron of the arts. She is remembered for her contributions to the development of Romanian literature and her support of cultural initiatives.
In the 18th century, Calea Ghica (1720-1786) was a Romanian noblewoman and philanthropist known for her charitable work and support of educational institutions.
Moving into the 19th century, Calea Văcărescu (1810-1892) was a Romanian poet and writer who made significant contributions to the development of Romanian literature during the Romantic period.
In more recent history, Calea Negruzzi (1920-2005) was a renowned Romanian actress and theater director. She was widely acclaimed for her performances on stage and in film, and was considered one of the most influential figures in Romanian theater of the 20th century.
While the name Calea has its roots in Romanian culture, it has also gained recognition and popularity in other parts of the world, albeit to a lesser extent. The name's association with warmth, radiance, and vitality has contributed to its enduring appeal across various cultures and time periods.
People
Calea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calea 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
Calea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 211 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calea 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 1,624,428 US residents.
Is Calea a common name?
We classify Calea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calea most popular?
The single biggest year for Calea was 2006, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calea is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 204 people with the name Calea, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,948 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 Calea 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 Calea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calea leans strongly female. 201 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 7 male bearers (3.4%). 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 Calea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calea is White at 43.1%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). 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 Calea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.1% (88 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 Calea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calea in the SSA data are female. 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 Calea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calea 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 Calea 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 Calea?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.