Calum
A Scottish masculine name derived from Gaelic meaning "dove".
Name Census estimates that about 3,157 living Americans carry the first name Calum. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Calum today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calum births was 2022 (303 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calum. 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 Calum with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Calum is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.2K
~ 1 in 108,570 Americans
Peak year
2022
303 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#906
Tracked since 1978
Census
Calum in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,929 people with the first name Calum, which placed it at #7,757 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
#7,757
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,929 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Calum
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calum is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Calum 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 Calum at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 1,570
- Two or more races7.2% · 139
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 120
- Black or African American2.5% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 15
Popularity
Calum: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calum from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,343 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calum 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 Calum during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Calums live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Calum, while Oregon, North Dakota, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 53 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calum
The name Calum originated from the Scottish Gaelic form of the Latin name Columba, meaning "dove." It is derived from the Gaelic word "colm," which means "dove" or "pigeon." The name first appeared in the 6th century AD and is associated with Saint Columba, an Irish missionary who played a significant role in the spread of Christianity in Scotland.
Calum is a popular name in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands and Islands regions. It has a long history in Scottish culture and has been used by several notable figures throughout the centuries. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Calum is Calum Cille, the Gaelic name for Saint Columba, who lived from 521 to 597 AD.
In the 13th century, Calum Óg Mac an Bhaird was a prominent Scottish poet and member of the esteemed MacAn Bhaird family of bards. Calum Garbh Mac Ill'Anndrais, born around 1550, was a Scottish warrior and clan chief known for his bravery and leadership during the Scottish clan wars.
In the 18th century, Calum Bàn MacLeòid, born in 1738, was a renowned Scottish poet and songwriter from the Isle of Skye. His works played a significant role in preserving the Gaelic language and culture. Another notable figure from this time period was Calum Gilleathain, born in 1770, a Scottish soldier who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and later became a celebrated piper.
In more recent history, Calum Buchanan (1922-2004) was a Scottish author and journalist known for his works on Scottish history and culture. Calum MacLeod (1911-1988) was a prominent Scottish politician and member of the British Parliament, representing the Western Isles constituency.
These examples highlight the rich history and cultural significance of the name Calum in Scotland, spanning centuries and encompassing various fields, including religion, literature, warfare, and politics.
People
Calum + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calum 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
Calum: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calum?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calum 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 108,570 US residents.
Is Calum a common name?
We classify Calum as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,188 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calum most popular?
The single biggest year for Calum was 2022, when 303 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calum is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Calum in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,929 people with the name Calum, or 0.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,757 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 Calum 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 Calum?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Calum appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,932 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Calum?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Calum is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Calum most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Calum in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (1,570 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 Calum in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calum a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Calum 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 Calum still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calum 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 Calum 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 Calum?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.