Caledonia
An ancient Greek name referring to Scotland or Caledonian lands.
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Caledonia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caledonia today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caledonia births was 2003 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caledonia. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Caledonia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Caledonia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
2003
11 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2023 SSA rank
#15,610
Tracked since 1900
Census
Caledonia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 177 people with the first name Caledonia, which placed it at #41,393 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
#41,393
National first-name rank
People counted
177
177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caledonia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caledonia is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.6%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Caledonia 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 Caledonia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.6% · 125
- Two or more races9.6% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 16
- Black or African American8.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Caledonia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caledonia from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 41 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caledonia 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 Caledonia 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 Caledonia
The name Caledonia is derived from the Latin word "Caledonia," which was used by the Romans to refer to the northern part of what is now Scotland. The word is thought to have originated from the Gaelic term "Calido," meaning "hard" or "rough," referring to the rugged terrain of the region.
Caledonia was first mentioned in classical writings by the Roman historian and geographer Ptolemy in his work "Geographia," composed around 150 AD. He described Caledonia as a region located north of the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
The name Caledonia continued to be used throughout the Middle Ages to refer to the northern part of Scotland. In the 16th century, the poet and historian George Buchanan used the term "Caledonia" in his work "Rerum Scoticarum Historia" (History of Scottish Affairs) to describe the entire country of Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Caledonia was Caledonia Curry, an American actress and singer who lived from 1837 to 1922. She was known for her performances in minstrel shows and vaudeville acts.
Another notable figure with the name Caledonia was Caledonia "Jane" Curry, a Native American woman born around 1825 who played a crucial role in the Modoc War of 1872-1873. She acted as a peacemaker and interpreter during the conflict between the Modoc people and the United States Army.
In the 20th century, Caledonia Kearney (1916-2005) was an American painter and printmaker known for her abstract expressionist works. She studied under the renowned artist Hans Hofmann and had her work exhibited in various galleries and museums throughout her career.
Another notable figure with the name was Caledonia "Callie" Northcott (1871-1940), a Canadian educator and temperance activist. She was a prominent figure in the Women's Christian Temperance Union and campaigned for the prohibition of alcohol in British Columbia.
Caledonia Curry, also known as Caledonia Hoskins (1890-1970), was an American cook and author who wrote several cookbooks on Southern cuisine. Her book "Caledonia's Cookbook" became a popular reference for traditional Southern dishes and recipes.
While the name Caledonia has its roots in ancient Roman and Scottish history, it has been used throughout various cultures and time periods, often associated with individuals who made significant contributions in their respective fields.
People
Caledonia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caledonia 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
Caledonia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caledonia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caledonia 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 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Caledonia a common name?
We classify Caledonia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 97 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caledonia most popular?
The single biggest year for Caledonia was 2003, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caledonia is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Caledonia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 177 people with the name Caledonia, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,393 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 Caledonia 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 Caledonia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Caledonia leans strongly female. 166 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Caledonia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caledonia is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.6%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Caledonia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Caledonia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (125 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 Caledonia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caledonia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caledonia 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 Caledonia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caledonia 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 Caledonia 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 are called Caledonia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.