Calia
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "beautiful flower".
Name Census estimates that about 1,079 living Americans carry the first name Calia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Calia today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calia births was 2019 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calia. 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 Calia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Calia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 317,659 Americans
Peak year
2019
67 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,663
Tracked since 1993
Census
Calia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 776 people with the first name Calia, which placed it at #14,967 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
#14,967
National first-name rank
People counted
776
776 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
34.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calia is Black at 34.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.4%) and Hispanic (19.7%). 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 Calia 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 Calia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American34.4% · 267
- White30.4% · 236
- Hispanic or Latino19.7% · 153
- Two or more races9.8% · 76
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 8
Popularity
Calia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calia from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 469 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Calia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calia 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 Calia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Calia, while Illinois, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calia
The name Calia has its origins in ancient Greek culture, dating back to the 5th century BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Greek word "kalos," which means beautiful or fair. The name was popular among the Greeks, particularly in the regions of Athens and the surrounding areas.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Calia can be found in the works of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. In his comedy "The Frogs," a character named Calia is referenced, although it is unclear if this was a real person or a fictional character.
During the Hellenistic period, which lasted from the 4th century BCE to the 1st century BCE, the name Calia gained popularity across the Mediterranean region as Greek culture and influence spread. It was particularly common among the upper classes and noble families.
In the 2nd century CE, a notable figure named Calia Afrania lived in ancient Rome. She was a wealthy woman known for her philanthropic efforts and contributions to the city's infrastructure. Unfortunately, not much else is known about her life or legacy.
Fast forward to the 12th century, and we find a reference to a Calia of Beauvais in the chronicles of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Quentin in northern France. She was a noblewoman and patron of the arts who commissioned several works of art and literature.
During the Renaissance period, a Italian painter named Calia Amatrice (1480-1548) gained recognition for her portraits and religious works. She was born in the town of Amatrice and trained in the workshops of Rome, where she spent most of her career.
In the 17th century, a Spanish poet and playwright named Calia de la Cerda (1594-1668) made a name for herself with her witty and satirical works. She was part of the literary circle in Madrid and is remembered for her sharp tongue and critique of societal norms.
Calia has remained a relatively uncommon name throughout history, but it has been used across various cultures and regions, often associated with beauty, nobility, and artistic expression.
People
Calia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calia 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
Calia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,079 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calia 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 317,659 US residents.
Is Calia a common name?
We classify Calia as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,090 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calia most popular?
The single biggest year for Calia was 2019, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calia is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 776 people with the name Calia, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,967 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 Calia 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 Calia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calia appears almost entirely female. Of the 769 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Calia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calia is Black at 34.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.4%) and Hispanic (19.7%). 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 Calia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Calia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.4% (267 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 Calia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calia 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 Calia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calia 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 Calia 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 named Calia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.