Kalleigh
Irish feminine form of Charles, meaning brave and strong.
Name Census estimates that about 654 living Americans carry the first name Kalleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kalleigh today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kalleigh births was 2009 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kalleigh. 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
654
~ 1 in 524,089 Americans
Peak year
2009
55 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,569
Tracked since 1990
Census
Kalleigh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 546 people with the first name Kalleigh, which placed it at #19,393 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
#19,393
National first-name rank
People counted
546
546 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kalleigh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalleigh is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.1%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Kalleigh 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 Kalleigh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.9% · 398
- Black or African American12.1% · 66
- Two or more races7.5% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
Popularity
Kalleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kalleigh 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 326 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kalleigh 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 Kalleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kalleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Kalleigh, while Ohio, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kalleigh
The name Kalleigh is a relatively modern variant of the traditional Scottish name Calley or Callie, which is a pet form of the name Colin. The name Colin itself is derived from the Gaelic name Cailean or Collan, meaning "puppy" or "whelp." This name originated in the Scottish Highlands and was particularly popular among the Clan MacKenzie.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Colin was frequently recorded in Scottish parish records and historical documents. One notable bearer of the name was Colin Campbell, the 6th Earl of Argyll (1584-1625), who played a significant role in the Scottish Reformation and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
As the name Colin spread beyond Scotland, it underwent various spelling variations, including Collin, Cullen, and Cailean. The variant Calley or Callie emerged as a diminutive form, particularly popular in the United States and Canada.
The spelling Kalleigh is a more recent adaptation, likely influenced by the trend of adding unique or creative spellings to traditional names. While the earliest documented use of this particular spelling is uncertain, it gained popularity in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Calley or its variants, including:
1. Calley Paget (c. 1622-1678), an English politician and member of Parliament during the English Civil War.
2. Callie Khouri (born 1957), an American screenwriter and director best known for writing the Academy Award-winning film "Thelma & Louise."
3. Callie Thorne (born 1969), an American actress known for her roles in "Rescue Me" and "The Wire."
4. Callie Russell (born 1976), a Canadian actress and model who appeared in several television series and films.
5. Calley Gayton (born 1987), a New Zealand netball player who represented her country in international competitions.
While the spelling Kalleigh is relatively uncommon compared to more traditional variations, it reflects the ongoing evolution of names and the desire for unique and creative spellings in modern times.
People
Kalleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kalleigh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kalleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kalleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 654 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kalleigh 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 524,089 US residents.
Is Kalleigh a common name?
We classify Kalleigh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 662 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kalleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Kalleigh was 2009, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kalleigh is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kalleigh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 546 people with the name Kalleigh, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,393 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 Kalleigh 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 Kalleigh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kalleigh appears almost entirely female. Of the 547 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kalleigh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalleigh is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.1%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Kalleigh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kalleigh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (398 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 Kalleigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kalleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kalleigh 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 Kalleigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kalleigh 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 Kalleigh 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 Kalleigh?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Kalleigh on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.