Cal

Did you know?

A few things about Cal you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Cal

Cal Ripken Jr.

American retired baseball player (born 1960)

Choose Cal and your child shares a first name with Cal Ripken Jr., an American retired baseball player. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Cal, like who?” Cal Ripken Jr.'s Wikipedia article is available in 21 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Cal Ripken Jr. on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 3,084 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Cal, 554 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Cal would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryCal has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Cals, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 1880, when it reached #392.
• 📈Then vs nowCal is 7.2× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 22,321 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 3,084.
• 🚀TrendCal has climbed 393 places in the US rankings over the last five years and now sits at #542. Fast risers like this often keep climbing, so expect to hear it more.
• 📍Where it's lovedCal is most popular in Wyoming, where it ranks #89, followed by Utah (#158) and Iowa (#191). It's in the top 1,000 in 32 states.

About the name Cal

Cal is a boy name of English and Latin origin. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with C and ending in “-cal”. US birth records list Cal for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 143 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1880, when it ranked #392 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #542, with 554 babies.

Origin:English namesLatin names