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.

Infographic of Caleb name meaning, which is A name of Hebrew origin, Caleb means whole heart.
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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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
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

29 Comments

  1. I’m Caleb. I like my name

  2. It’s from the Bible and my husband and I only agreed on this name ?

  3. Strong biblical name who is a conqueror.

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

  5. Wanted a modern biblical name

  6. 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

  7. Named him after his daddy ? love the biblical character too

  8. 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.

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

  10. 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

  11. Caleb

  12. 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.

  13. Bilingual name for French and English sides

  14. 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.

  15. 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!

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  19. Named after his daddy

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

  21. 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.

    • We have a Caleb James too!

      • Y’all Omg my dick name is Caleb James to ?

  22. 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

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

  24. 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.

  25. 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.

  26. 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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