Caliah
A feminine name of unknown origin possibly meaning "one who speaks words of affirmation".
Name Census estimates that about 392 living Americans carry the first name Caliah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caliah today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caliah births was 2019 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caliah. 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 Caliah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
392
~ 1 in 874,373 Americans
Peak year
2019
28 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,017
Tracked since 2000
Census
Caliah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 283 people with the first name Caliah, which placed it at #30,644 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
#30,644
National first-name rank
People counted
283
283 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Caliah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caliah is Black at 49.8%. The next largest groups are White (17.0%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Caliah 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 Caliah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.8% · 141
- White17.0% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 41
- Two or more races12.7% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 5
Popularity
Caliah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caliah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 222 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Caliah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caliah 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 Caliah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Caliahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Caliah, while Texas, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caliah
The name Caliah is a variant of the Hebrew name Kaliah, which means "crown" or "wreath." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Semitic languages, particularly Hebrew and Aramaic. The name Caliah is believed to have emerged during the biblical era, though its exact time of origin is uncertain.
In the Old Testament, the name Kaliah appears as a variant spelling of the name Caleb, which means "whole-hearted" or "faithful." However, Caliah itself is not mentioned in the Bible or other ancient religious texts. The earliest recorded use of the name Caliah dates back to the Middle Ages, where it was used among Jewish communities in Europe.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Caliah was Caliah ben Judah, a 13th-century Jewish scholar and commentator from Spain. He authored several works on Jewish law and philosophy, making significant contributions to the intellectual traditions of his time.
In the 16th century, Caliah Joseph ben Meir Abulafia was a prominent Italian Talmudic scholar and rabbi. He lived in Venice and was renowned for his expertise in Jewish law and his contributions to the study of the Talmud.
During the 17th century, Caliah ben Ephraim was a notable Polish-Jewish scholar and author. He wrote extensively on Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah, influencing the development of these traditions in Eastern Europe.
In the 19th century, Caliah Bendavid was a prominent French-Jewish author and journalist. He wrote extensively on Jewish history and culture, contributing to the intellectual discourse of his time.
Another notable figure with the name Caliah was Caliah Shalom, an Israeli poet and writer who lived in the 20th century. He was known for his lyrical works that explored themes of love, nature, and Jewish identity.
While the name Caliah has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to other Hebrew names. However, its connection to the concept of a "crown" or "wreath" has imbued it with a sense of nobility and distinction.
People
Caliah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caliah 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
Caliah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caliah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 392 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caliah 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 874,373 US residents.
Is Caliah a common name?
We classify Caliah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 395 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caliah most popular?
The single biggest year for Caliah was 2019, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caliah 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 Caliah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 283 people with the name Caliah, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,644 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 Caliah 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 Caliah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Caliah appears almost entirely female. Of the 277 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Caliah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Caliah is Black at 49.8%. The next largest groups are White (17.0%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Caliah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Caliah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (141 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 Caliah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Caliah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caliah 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 Caliah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Caliah 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 Caliah 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 have the name Caliah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.