Calie
A feminine diminutive variation of Calla, derived from the Greek word for beauty.
Name Census estimates that about 1,503 living Americans carry the first name Calie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Calie today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calie births was 2008 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calie. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 228,047 Americans
Peak year
2008
72 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,657
Tracked since 1970
Popularity
Calie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calie from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 498 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calie 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 Calie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Calie, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calie
The name Calie is believed to have its origins in the Greek language. It is thought to be a feminine variation of the masculine name Caleb, which means "faithful" or "whole-hearted" in Hebrew. The earliest known use of the name Calie dates back to the late 19th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Calie is in the 1881 novel "The Story of an African Farm" by Olive Schreiner, where it is used as a character's name. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until the early 20th century.
In the early 1900s, a notable figure named Calie was Calie Wilkins (1890-1965), an American suffragist and social activist who campaigned for women's rights and racial equality. She was a prominent figure in the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Another historical figure with the name Calie was Calie Eisenhauer (1915-1997), an American painter and sculptor known for her abstract expressionist works. Her art was widely exhibited in galleries across the United States, and she received numerous awards and accolades during her lifetime.
In the world of literature, Calie Marquez (1920-2005) was a Mexican writer and poet who published several collections of poems and short stories. Her work often explored themes of identity, feminism, and social issues, and she was considered a prominent voice in the Mexican literary scene of the 20th century.
Moving to the field of music, Calie Jones (1928-2018) was an American blues singer and guitarist who was active in the Chicago blues scene during the 1950s and 1960s. She collaborated with notable musicians such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and is remembered for her powerful vocals and guitar skills.
Finally, Calie Sinclair (1935-2011) was a British actress and television personality who appeared in numerous stage productions, films, and TV shows throughout her career. She gained recognition for her roles in popular TV series such as "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "The Forsyte Saga," and was known for her versatility as an actress.
While the name Calie has not been as widely used as some other names, it has a rich history and has been borne by several notable individuals across various fields throughout the 20th century.
People
Calie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calie 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
Calie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,503 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calie 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 228,047 US residents.
Is Calie a common name?
We classify Calie as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,537 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calie most popular?
The single biggest year for Calie was 2008, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calie is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Calie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calie 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.
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.