Mckaleb
An American variant of the Hebrew name Caleb meaning "whole-hearted, faithful".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Mckaleb. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mckaleb today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mckaleb births was 2005 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mckaleb. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mckaleb. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2005
5 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2005 SSA rank
#12,692
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Mckaleb: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Mckaleb 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 Mckaleb during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Mckaleb
The name Mckaleb is of Scottish origin, derived from the Gaelic personal name "Calum" or "Colum," meaning "dove." It is a variant of the more common English name Malcolm, which shares the same root.
Mckaleb emerged as a distinct name during the Middle Ages in Scotland, where various spellings such as "McKaleb," "McCaleb," and "McCalib" were used. The prefix "Mc" or "Mac" signifies "son of" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, indicating a patronymic naming tradition.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been used among Scottish clans and families from the 12th century onwards.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mckaleb dates back to the late 16th century, when a man named John Mckaleb was mentioned in the records of the Scottish Parliament in 1593.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mckaleb:
1. James Mckaleb (1768-1842), an American pioneer and soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War and later settled in Tennessee.
2. Robert Mckaleb (1810-1876), a prominent American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee from 1849 to 1851.
3. William Mckaleb (1826-1899), an American Baptist missionary who established several churches and educational institutions in Japan in the late 19th century.
4. John Mckaleb (1855-1928), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Mckaleb Furniture Company in St. Louis, Missouri.
5. Samuel Mckaleb (1880-1956), an American lawyer and judge who served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Oklahoma from 1937 to 1949.
While the name Mckaleb is not as common as its parent name Malcolm, it has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly in Scotland and among Scottish-American communities in the United States.
People
Mckaleb + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mckaleb as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mckaleb: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mckaleb?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mckaleb 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Mckaleb a common name?
We classify Mckaleb as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mckaleb most popular?
The single biggest year for Mckaleb was 2005, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mckaleb is about 21 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 Mckaleb in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mckaleb a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mckaleb 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 Mckaleb still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mckaleb 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 Mckaleb 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 Mckaleb?
See how many Americans are named Mckaleb on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.