Caleb Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Boy Names Like Caleb

Caleb Name Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: k(ay)-leb
See what 27 people think about Caleb

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Caleb Name Meaning

With the warm meaning of “whole heart”, it’s no surprise that Caleb has been picking up steam in the baby name circuit. A lovely pick with warmth well beyond his five letters, Caleb is a sweet alternative to the more popular Jacob.

While more common Biblical names like Noah and Elijah are saturating the charts and classrooms, Caleb is a lesser used option that’s ripe for picking. He’s hovered in the Top 100 for several years but has never reached the point of overuse. He’s well-known enough to be easily spelled and understood yet rare enough to be fresh.

Caleb is another name that defies aging. He’s absolutely precious on a little boy and handsome on a man, immune to feeling too cutesy or mature. He’s also a name that isn’t weighed down with heavy associations, giving wearers a blank slate to work with.

Little Caleb is a curious tyke who’s more than ready to learn and explore. He always has his eyes on the future, excited to see what the next day will bring. He’s a positive child that manages to see the best in everyone. Because of this, he’s a great friend and easily meets new ones.

Caleb can be shorted to Cal or Cale if you choose. Some similar names include Josiah, Asher, and Jonah.

Caleb Name Popularity

How popular is the name Caleb? Here’s everything we know.

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	0	0%
1911	—	0	0%
1912	—	0	0%
1913	—	0	0%
1914	—	0	0%
1915	—	0	0%
1916	1,201	7	0.0007%
1917	1,355	6	0.0006%
1918	1,536	5	0.0005%
1919	1,478	5	0.0005%
1920	1,067	16	0.0014%
1921	1,469	6	0.0005%
1922	1,053	16	0.0014%
1923	—	0	0%
1924	1,424	6	0.0005%
1925	1,038	16	0.0014%
1926	1,569	5	0.0005%
1927	1,224	10	0.0009%
1928	1,435	6	0.0006%
1929	—	0	0%
1930	—	0	0%
1931	—	0	0%
1932	1,417	5	0.0005%
1933	1,367	5	0.0005%
1934	1,034	13	0.0013%
1935	—	0	0%
1936	1,356	5	0.0005%
1937	—	0	0%
1938	—	0	0%
1939	—	0	0%
1940	—	0	0%
1941	1,426	5	0.0004%
1942	—	0	0%
1943	—	0	0%
1944	—	0	0%
1945	—	0	0%
1946	—	0	0%
1947	1,541	5	0.0003%
1948	—	0	0%
1949	—	0	0%
1950	1,180	11	0.0007%
1951	1,550	5	0.0003%
1952	—	0	0%
1953	—	0	0%
1954	1,554	5	0.0003%
1955	1,233	11	0.0006%
1956	1,513	5	0.0003%
1957	1,291	10	0.0005%
1958	1,110	16	0.0008%
1959	1,201	12	0.0006%
1960	1,191	13	0.0007%
1961	1,146	15	0.0008%
1962	—	0	0%
1963	1,209	12	0.0007%
1964	1,021	21	0.0012%
1965	—	0	0%
1966	981	22	0.0014%
1967	1,468	5	0.0003%
1968	1,158	13	0.0009%
1969	988	25	0.0016%
1970	872	46	0.0029%
1971	839	52	0.0035%
1972	765	64	0.0047%
1973	597	132	0.0102%
1974	467	248	0.0191%
1975	379	376	0.0293%
1976	333	476	0.0369%
1977	273	677	0.0502%
1978	273	682	0.0507%
1979	247	840	0.0596%
1980	235	964	0.0659%
1981	174	1,415	0.0963%
1982	170	1,570	0.1051%
1983	159	1,698	0.1151%
1984	162	1,643	0.1104%
1985	135	2,079	0.137%
1986	130	2,090	0.1385%
1987	114	2,493	0.1634%
1988	108	2,804	0.1799%
1989	91	3,779	0.2342%
1990	88	4,149	0.2503%
1991	78	4,857	0.298%
1992	74	5,036	0.3155%
1993	66	5,777	0.3705%
1994	60	6,157	0.4012%
1995	54	6,654	0.4415%
1996	48	7,545	0.5039%
1997	47	7,773	0.5256%
1998	42	9,028	0.6032%
1999	41	9,279	0.6196%
2000	38	9,865	0.6458%
2001	37	11,174	0.7416%
2002	35	11,657	0.7779%
2003	34	11,638	0.765%
2004	33	11,299	0.7413%
2005	35	10,891	0.7123%
2006	34	10,994	0.7021%
2007	36	10,943	0.6936%
2008	34	10,569	0.6838%
2009	31	10,990	0.7353%
2010	32	10,472	0.7267%
2011	32	10,027	0.7038%
2012	32	9,962	0.6991%
2013	32	9,596	0.674%
2014	35	9,215	0.6325%
2015	37	8,789	0.604%
2016	44	7,950	0.5514%
2017	50	7,084	0.5076%
2018	45	6,929	0.5043%
2019	52	6,345	0.4687%
2020	56	5,441	0.4275%
2021	51	5,894	0.4822%
2022	52	5,645	0.4279%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Caleb

If you like Caleb, you’ll love these other names like Caleb.

What names are diminutives of Caleb?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Caleb sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Caleb, but shorter.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Cal	A diminutive form of Calvin.	English
Cale	Dog	English
Caley	Lean, slight	Irish

What names are variants of Caleb?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Caleb.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Cayleb	Faith, devotion, whole hearted	Hebrew
Kaleb	Whole heart	Hebrew
Kayleb	Faith, devotion, whole hearted	Hebrew
Kaylob	Faith, devotion, whole hearted	Hebrew

What names sound like Caleb?

If you like how Caleb sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Caleb.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Caden	Son of Cadan	Irish
Cadence	Rhythm	Latin
Cayden	Son of Cadan	Irish
Caydin	Companion	Arabic
Caydon	Companion	Arabic
Colbee	Swarthy person's settlement	Scandinavian
Colbey	Swarthy person's settlement	Scandinavian

Colby	Swarthy person's settlement	Scandinavian
Collby	Swarthy person's settlement	Scandinavian
Ghalib	Victorious	Arabic
Kalin		Gaelic
Kayden	Son of Cadan	American

What names are similar to Caleb?

Find a name that’s like Caleb, but just a little bit different.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Benjamin	A favorite son	Hebrew
Connor	Dog lover	Irish
Daniel	God is My Judge	Hebrew
David	Beloved	Hebrew
Everett	Brave boar	English
Henry	Home ruler	English
Jacob	Supplanter	Hebrew
Julian	Young at heart	Latin
Thomas	Twin	Greek
Wesley	Western meadow	English

Lists With Caleb

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Caleb.

Siblings of Caleb

Mamas with kids named Caleb also have kids with these names.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender

Seth	Appointed	Hebrew
Noah	To rest	Hebrew
David	Beloved	Hebrew
Meira	Light	Hebrew
Nora	Honorable one	Latin
Hadassah	Myrtle tree	Hebrew
Camille	Religious helper	French
Isabella	Devoted to God	Italian
Evelyn	Desired one	English
Ethan	Enduring and strong	Hebrew
Izabella	Devoted to God	Italian
Luke	From Lucania	Greek
Rosalie	Rose flower	French
Hannah	Grace	Hebrew
Joshua	God is salvation	Hebrew

Share Your Thoughts

27 Comments

Cassandra Feb 27 at 11:21 am

Strong biblical name who is a conqueror.

Reply
Erika Dec 3 at 12:23 pm

A biblical name that means faithful and strong hearted in Hebrew.

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April Nov 8 at 1:04 pm

Wanted a modern biblical name

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Widowed husband Apr 19 at 9:47 am

Ashlea, ive seen you while you shower (you should lock your door anytime passed 9:41, I will be there), you looked very beautiful today. If there is one person that wants you its me. But if I don’t get my way, I will have to force my way, (rape) I worked too hard for that very sexy body, and no one is going to get it but me. There will be no questions asked

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Ashlea Jul 13 at 7:08 am

Named him after his daddy ? love the biblical character too

Reply
Cortney Jordan May 3 at 10:39 am

My husband’s name is Joshua, so when we found out we were having a boy we both agreed on the name Caleb after the biblical story of Joshua and Caleb’s faithful commitment to God. While Caleb is traditional name, we love that it isn’t a super popular name at this time.

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Stephanie Dec 24 at 9:08 am

Caleb was bold for the Lord and did what was right when no one else had the courage

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Isabella Dec 23 at 10:26 am

Caleb means BOLD, BRAVE and FAITH FILLED. It was mentioned twice at church after the name came to us. Nothing else stuck and right now it felt right with the world going crazy

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Mama Rebeca Aug 11 at 6:11 am

Caleb

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Colleen Aug 7 at 12:36 pm

We just liked the name and the meaning was nice. As a teacher there are names that are “off limits,” but all the Calebs I knew were lovely.

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Melody Jul 17 at 7:22 am

Bilingual name for French and English sides

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Julie May 2 at 9:36 am

Caleb means faithful and whole-hearted. We love the name to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to our family and a charge for our son to be whole hearted in all he does.

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Hillary Oct 14 at 10:58 am

We like biblical boys names! Caleb means “Faithful” his middle name a LeRoy means “King” do together his name means “The King is Faithful”… Seems fitting for 2020!

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Whitney Jul 8 at 12:29 pm

We chose the name Caleb for our second son because it came to my husband in a dream before we found out the gender and it just seemed to fit. Although i tried to pick a different name several times calling him anything other than Caleb just didn’t seem right. Now that he’s here it suits him perfectly! He’s as sweet as can be. The only thing I dislike about the name is everyone gets Jacob ( my first born) and Caleb mixed up. They say the name is too similar.

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Nessly Feb 14 at 12:48 pm

Caleb is one of the two spies that believed they could defeat the giants in the bible. One of the two spies thatade it into the promise land because they had the faith that others lacked.

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Pamela Nov 19 at 11:24 am

We chose Caleb because it sounds similar in French and English. I’m English and his dad is French. We liked that it is a known name but not an overly common name, in our area anyway. And we liked that you can’t really shorten it.

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KD Aug 11 at 1:24 pm

Named after his daddy

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Leah Jun 5 at 2:10 pm

It is a biblical name and we like that it starts with the same letter as our last name.

Reply
Amber Apr 14 at 3:15 pm

I liked the name Caleb and my husband agreed. We decided to use James as the middle name cause it’s my husband’s and his dad’s.

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- Krista Jan 8 at 9:31 am
  
  We have a Caleb James too!
  
  Reply
- Cora May 11 at 5:07 am
  
  That’s my sons name too!! Cayleb James ?
  
  Reply
  - BBC Dec 31 at 8:10 pm
    
    Y’all Omg my dick name is Caleb James to ?
    
    Reply
Lauren Apr 13 at 2:17 pm

I felt like God was telling us we were going to have a boy that we should name him Caleb! I liked the way is sounded with our last name

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Hannah Apr 11 at 9:56 pm

A name I loved as a child & happened to just be my husband’s middle name!

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Chelsey Apr 11 at 5:39 pm

We chose the name Caleb because we are Christians and therefore like biblical names, but Caleb stuck out to us as one of the meanings is whole-hearted and we live to try and live each day wholeheartedly by showing God’s love to those we come in contact with.

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Liz Apr 11 at 2:07 pm

We chose Caleb because it met what we wanted in a name. It is Biblical, not totally unheard of, and, most importantly, we wanted a name that was spelled exactly the same in English and Spanish. Our final names were Caleb and Marcello, and when he was born, he was Caleb.

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Dallas Apr 11 at 1:35 pm

My hubby and I both LOVE Caleb from the Bible, especially the story of the spies reporting back about the Promised Land God had for His people. Caleb was one of two spies who WASNT afraid of the inhabitants of the land because he KNEW God was with them. Caleb means “loyal” and this is a quality we’d love for our children to have and

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