Calise
A name of French origin meaning "a calm state of repose".
Name Census estimates that about 488 living Americans carry the first name Calise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Calise today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calise births was 2015 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calise. 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 Calise with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
488
~ 1 in 702,365 Americans
Peak year
2015
32 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,417
Tracked since 1979
Census
Calise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 444 people with the first name Calise, which placed it at #22,416 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
#22,416
National first-name rank
People counted
444
444 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calise is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (30.0%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). 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 Calise 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 Calise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.7% · 225
- White30.0% · 133
- Two or more races7.9% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
Popularity
Calise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calise from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 228 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Calise remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calise 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 Calise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calises live
Origin
Meaning and history of Calise
The name Calise is thought to have originated from the French language, with its roots tracing back to the medieval era. It is believed to be a variant spelling of the name Calixte, which itself is derived from the Latin name Callistus, meaning "most beautiful" or "fairest."
In ancient Rome, Callistus was a relatively common name, particularly among those of Greek heritage. It is recorded that a few early Christian popes, such as Callistus I (reigned 217-222) and Callistus III (reigned 1455-1458), bore this name. The latter, born Alfonso de Borja, was a controversial figure known for his lavish lifestyle and nepotism.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Calise can be found in the 12th century, when a noblewoman named Calise de Bourgogne lived in the Duchy of Burgundy, which was then part of the Kingdom of France. She was a prominent figure at the court of Duke Odo II and played a significant role in the region's political affairs.
In the 14th century, a French poet and composer named Calise Baudouin gained recognition for her contributions to the courtly love tradition. Her works, which often explored themes of romance and chivalry, were widely circulated among the aristocracy of the time.
During the Renaissance period, Calise Farnese (1520-1592), an Italian noblewoman from the powerful Farnese family, was a notable patron of the arts and a supporter of the Catholic Church. Her patronage helped to foster the careers of numerous artists and scholars in Rome.
In more recent history, Calise Rainford (1911-2005) was a British actress and singer who enjoyed a successful career in both theater and film. She is best remembered for her role in the 1945 movie "Brief Encounter," which is considered a classic of British cinema.
Throughout the centuries, the name Calise has retained a sense of beauty and elegance, reflecting its Latin roots. While not as common as some other names, it has been borne by individuals who have left their mark on various aspects of history, from politics and the arts to literature and entertainment.
People
Calise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calise 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
Calise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 488 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calise 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 702,365 US residents.
Is Calise a common name?
We classify Calise as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 494 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calise most popular?
The single biggest year for Calise was 2015, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calise is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 444 people with the name Calise, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,416 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 Calise 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 Calise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calise leans strongly female. 426 people counted with this name were female (96.2%), compared with 17 male bearers (3.8%). 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 Calise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calise is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (30.0%) and Two or More Races (7.9%). 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 Calise most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Calise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (225 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 Calise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calise 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 Calise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calise 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 Calise 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 share the name Calise?
Find out how many Americans are named Calise on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.