Calix
A Latin name derived from the word "calix" meaning "cup" or "chalice".
Name Census estimates that about 774 living Americans carry the first name Calix. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Calix today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calix births was 2022 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calix. 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 Calix with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
774
~ 1 in 442,835 Americans
Peak year
2022
62 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,283
Tracked since 2002
Census
Calix in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 526 people with the first name Calix, which placed it at #19,885 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
#19,885
National first-name rank
People counted
526
526 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calix
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calix is White at 39.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.2%). 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 Calix 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 Calix at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.0% · 205
- Hispanic or Latino19.6% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.2% · 85
- Black or African American15.0% · 79
- Two or more races9.7% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Calix: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calix 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 365 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Calix remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calix 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 Calix during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calix' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Calix, while Georgia, North Carolina, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calix
The name Calix has its origins in Latin, derived from the word "calix," which means "cup" or "chalice." This name has been in use since ancient Roman times and has connections to various religious and cultural traditions.
In Christianity, the name Calix holds significance as it is associated with the chalice used during the Eucharist or Holy Communion. The chalice symbolizes the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper, making the name Calix a meaningful choice for Christians.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Calix can be found in the writings of Saint Augustine of Hippo, a renowned philosopher and theologian who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries. Saint Augustine made references to the symbolism of the chalice in his works, potentially contributing to the name's popularity among early Christians.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Calix. One such person was Calix, a 6th-century bishop of Clermont in France, who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Another notable figure was Calix III, a 13th-century Pope who reigned from 1119 to 1124.
In the realm of literature, Calix appears as a character in the epic poem "Paradise Lost" by John Milton, published in 1667. The character Calix is portrayed as a fallen angel who accompanies Satan in his rebellion against God.
In more recent times, Calix was the name of a French Benedictine monk and scholar, Dom Calixte de Valcourt (1763-1843), who made significant contributions to the field of paleography, the study of ancient manuscripts.
Another individual of note was Calix Pereira (1891-1972), a Portuguese architect and urban planner known for his influential work in shaping the city of Lourenço Marques, now known as Maputo, in Mozambique.
While the name Calix has its roots in ancient Latin and has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to more popular names. However, its unique meaning and historical connections continue to make it a distinctive choice for parents seeking a name with cultural and religious significance.
People
Calix + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calix 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
Calix: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calix?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 774 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calix 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 442,835 US residents.
Is Calix a common name?
We classify Calix as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 780 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calix most popular?
The single biggest year for Calix was 2022, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calix is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calix in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 526 people with the name Calix, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,885 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 Calix 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 Calix?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calix leans strongly male. 517 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 16 female bearers (3.0%). 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 Calix?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calix is White at 39.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.2%). 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 Calix most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calix in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.0% (205 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 Calix in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calix a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calix in the SSA data are male. 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 Calix still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calix 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 Calix 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 common is the name Calix?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Calix at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.