Cally
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "most beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 1,670 living Americans carry the first name Cally. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cally today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cally births was 1990 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cally. 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 Cally with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 205,242 Americans
Peak year
1990
114 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,269
Tracked since 1948
Census
Cally in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,802 people with the first name Cally, which placed it at #8,121 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
#8,121
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,802 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cally
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cally is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Cally 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 Cally at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.5% · 1,504
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 74
- Two or more races3.5% · 63
- Black or African American3.0% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 13
Popularity
Cally: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cally from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 512 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cally 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 Cally during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Callys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Minnesota, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Cally, while Louisiana, Florida, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cally
The name Cally is believed to have its origins in the Celtic language, with roots dating back to ancient Britain and Ireland. It is thought to be a diminutive form of the name Calista, which means "most beautiful" in Greek. Alternatively, some sources suggest that Cally could be derived from the Gaelic word "cailleach," meaning "veiled one" or "old woman."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cally can be found in the 12th-century Irish text, the Book of Leinster. In this text, a character named Cally is mentioned as a wise woman who advises the protagonist on various matters. This early reference suggests that the name has deep roots in Irish folklore and mythology.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Cally. One of the most famous was Cally Blackchurch (1675-1732), a British pirate who sailed the Caribbean Sea during the Golden Age of Piracy. Known for her fearlessness and cunning, Blackchurch was one of the few female pirates to achieve notoriety during that era.
Another prominent figure named Cally was Cally O'Brien (1845-1911), an Irish poet and activist who played a significant role in the Irish literary revival of the late 19th century. Her poems often celebrated the beauty of the Irish landscape and explored themes of national identity and cultural preservation.
In the world of art, Cally Spooner (born 1983) is a contemporary British artist known for her multimedia installations and performances that explore the intersection of language, technology, and human behavior. Her works have been exhibited in renowned galleries and museums around the world.
Moving to the realm of science, Cally Moore (1900-1982) was a pioneering American physicist who made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics. She was one of the first women to work on the Manhattan Project during World War II and played a crucial role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Finally, Cally Monrad (1925-2008) was a Danish actress and singer who achieved widespread popularity in her home country. She starred in numerous films and stage productions throughout her career, becoming a beloved cultural icon in Denmark.
These examples demonstrate the diverse range of individuals who have carried the name Cally throughout history, spanning various fields and cultural backgrounds.
People
Cally + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cally 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
Cally: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cally?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,670 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cally 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 205,242 US residents.
Is Cally a common name?
We classify Cally as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,773 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cally most popular?
The single biggest year for Cally was 1990, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cally is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cally in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,802 people with the name Cally, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,121 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 Cally 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 Cally?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cally leans strongly female. 1,754 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 48 male bearers (2.7%). 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 Cally?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cally is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Cally most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cally in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (1,504 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 Cally in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cally a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cally 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 Cally still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cally 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 Cally 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 Cally as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Cally on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.