Cal

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Cal: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Cal: Recorded since 1987, it reached #244 in 2000, and it stood at #509 in 2025.

3registrars recorded it
68times a registrar ranked it
39years from first to last
#244highest recorded position
11groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2357
1997	#1761
1998	#1263
1999	#1850
2000	#1889
2001	#2220
2003	#1188
2004	#1410
2005	#2418
2006	#2538
2007	#4333
2008	#3158
2009	#3744
2010	#2629
2011	#3830
2012	#3416
2013	#1920
2014	#1819
2015	#1673
2016	#3478
2017	#2324
2018	#2693
2019	#3013
2021	#4789
2022	#2755
2023	#4107
2024	#2263

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Republic of Ireland in 27 of the 39 years from 1987 to 2025.

In 2024: #305 among boys in Northern Ireland, #472 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #2263 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1987–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1987
First recorded at #303 among boys in Republic of Ireland in 1987 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Boys
Highest recorded1997–2024
Highest recorded position: #244 among boys in Northern Ireland, in 2000 (recorded 1997–2024).
Northern Ireland · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #509 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Boys

Cal appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Boys, which has ranked it in 27 years beginning in 1987, and has registered 144 births with the name.

Cal across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Cal's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#303 (1987)	#261 (1997)	#509 (2025)	27 of 39	144 (1987–2025)	9 (2018)
England and Wales · Boys	#2357 (1996)	#1188 (2003)	#2263 (2024)	27 of 29	191 (1996–2024)	14 (2003)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#248 (1997)	#244 (2000)	#305 (2024)	14 of 28	52 (1997–2024)	5 (2006)

Cal by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Cal in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	26	4 of 10	7
2000s	61	9 of 10	7
2010sbusiest	80	10 of 10	8
2020s	24	4 of 10	6

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 8 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Cal appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1987 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #244 in Northern Ireland in 2000.

Cal's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#2263	10	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#4107	4	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#2755	7	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#4789	3	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#3013	6	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#2693	7	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#2324	9	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#3478	5	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1673	14	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1819	12	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1920	11	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#3416	5	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#3830	4	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#2629	7	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#3744	4	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#3158	5	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#4333	3	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#2538	6	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#2418	6	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#1410	12	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#1188	14	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#2220	5	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#1889	6	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#1850	6	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1263	10	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#1761	6	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#2357	4	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	male	#305	5	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	male	#395	3	High	Verified
2017	Northern Ireland	male	#363	4	High	Verified
2013	Northern Ireland	male	#398	3	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	male	#387	3	High	Verified
2009	Northern Ireland	male	#329	4	High	Verified
2008	Northern Ireland	male	#378	3	High	Verified
2006	Northern Ireland	male	#257	5	High	Verified
2005	Northern Ireland	male	#265	4	High	Verified
2004	Northern Ireland	male	#264	4	High	Verified
2002	Northern Ireland	male	#281	3	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	male	#280	3	High	Verified
2000	Northern Ireland	male	#244	4	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	male	#248	4	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	male	#509	6	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	male	#472	7	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	male	#472	7	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#572	5	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	male	#631	4	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	male	#556	5	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	male	#564	5	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	male	#401	9	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	male	#610	4	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	male	#491	6	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	male	#421	8	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	male	#550	5	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#605	4	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	male	#422	8	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#472	6	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	male	#473	5	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	male	#423	5	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	male	#518	3	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	male	#322	7	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	male	#500	3	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	male	#348	5	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	male	#273	7	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	male	#390	3	High	Verified
1998	Republic of Ireland	male	#369	3	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	male	#261	7	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	male	#286	4	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	male	#303	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1987 and 2025, ranked in 32 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #244, first reached in 2000.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 14 births, registered in England and Wales in 2003.

Its record falls into 3 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 5 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 10 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Caitriona · #70, 56y
Caius · #890, 29y
Calan · #730, 23y
Cale · #596, 21y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Art · #244, 34y
Denver · #243, 31y
Deon · #243, 29y
Inayah · #243, 30y

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1980 and 1989.

Usman · #244, 46y
Agne · #243, 22y
Denver · #243, 31y
Adelina · #247, 34y

Cal was ranked #244 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 2000. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Cal and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Cal without appearing here.

Cal moved ahead of

Graham Compare
In 2023 they stood at #4107 and #1533 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #2263 and #5119.
Jade Compare
In 2023 they stood at #4107 and #2813 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #2263 and #5119.
Tayla Compare
In 2012 they stood at #3744 and #2318 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2013 that had become #1920 and #4685.
Garry Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3478 and #3079 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2018 that had become #2693 and #4749.

Moved ahead of Cal

Theodor Compare
In 2006 they stood at #2538 and #2870 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #4333 and #1440.
Gustav Compare
In 2020 they stood at #3013 and #3937 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2021 that had become #4789 and #2125.
Isak Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2755 and #3449 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #4107 and #1461.
Braxton Compare
In 2010 they stood at #2629 and #4678 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2011 that had become #3830 and #1398.

Moved the opposite way to Cal

Adam Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 while Adam went from #68 to #20.
Alex Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 while Alex went from #190 to #37.
Alexander Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 while Alexander went from #128 to #55.
Arthur Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 while Arthur went from #172 to #57.

Moved the same way as Cal

Andrew Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 and Andrew from #21 to #106.
Anthony Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 and Anthony from #22 to #135.
Brendan Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 and Brendan from #36 to #402.
Brian Compare
Between 1987 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Cal went from #303 to #509 and Brian from #12 to #252.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1987 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #244 in Northern Ireland in 2000. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Cal

Cal at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Cal across 3 official records

Cal by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cal appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Names published alongside Cal

Cal and the names beside it

Cal moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cal

Moved the opposite way to Cal

Moved the same way as Cal

Cal at a glance

Cal across 3 official records

Cal by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Cal appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1980s

Names published alongside Cal

Cal and the names beside it

Cal moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Cal

Moved the opposite way to Cal

Moved the same way as Cal