Calvary
A symbolic name derived from Calvary, representing Jesus's crucifixion site.
Name Census estimates that about 223 living Americans carry the first name Calvary. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Calvary today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Calvary births was 2017 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Calvary. 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
223
~ 1 in 1,537,015 Americans
Peak year
2017
23 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,639
Tracked since 1998
Gender
Gender distribution for Calvary
Calvary is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 225 total registrations, 94 (41.8%) were male and 131 (58.2%) were female.
Calvary as a male name
- Ranked #9,091 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (10 births)
Calvary as a female name
- Ranked #7,639 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (16 births)
Popularity
Calvary: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Calvary from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 116 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Calvary remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Calvary 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 Calvary during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Calvary
The name Calvary is derived from the Latin word "calvaria", which means "skull". It is believed to have originated from the Aramaic word "gulgutha" or the Hebrew word "gulgoleth", both of which refer to a skull-shaped hill or mound.
This name is closely associated with the biblical account of Jesus' crucifixion. According to the Gospels, Jesus was crucified on a hill called Golgotha, which is translated as "the place of the skull" or "Calvary" in some versions of the Bible. The name Calvary is often used to refer to this site, which is located in Jerusalem.
The earliest recorded use of the name Calvary in reference to the crucifixion site can be found in the New Testament, particularly in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is mentioned as the place where Jesus was crucified and buried.
While the name Calvary is not commonly used as a given name, there are a few notable individuals who have carried this name throughout history. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Calvary was Saint Calvary, a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD and was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Decius.
Another notable figure with the name Calvary was Calvary Morris (1785-1865), an American Baptist minister and abolitionist who was actively involved in the anti-slavery movement in the United States.
In literature, the name Calvary is featured in John Bunyan's allegorical work "The Pilgrim's Progress", where it is depicted as a place of spiritual significance and a representation of the crucifixion of Christ.
The name Calvary is also associated with the Calvary Chapel movement, a Protestant evangelical Christian movement founded in the 1960s by Chuck Smith. The name "Calvary" is often used in the names of churches and ministries affiliated with this movement.
While not a common given name, Calvary has a rich historical and religious significance, primarily stemming from its association with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and its biblical roots.
People
Calvary + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Calvary 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
Calvary: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Calvary?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 223 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Calvary 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 1,537,015 US residents.
Is Calvary a common name?
We classify Calvary as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 225 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Calvary most popular?
The single biggest year for Calvary was 2017, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Calvary is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Calvary in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Calvary a female name?
Yes, 58.2% of people registered as Calvary 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 Calvary still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Calvary 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 Calvary 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Calvary?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.