Callan

What Callan means

Means “descendant of Cathalán”

Borrowed from Irish Ó Cathaláin (“descendant of Cathalán”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Callan” (revision 94535268), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Callan?

US: Rising: up from #687 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #682 in 2015, #650 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,917 boys got the name (#190 that year). First in the US records in 1957.

How common

• About 1 in 891 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,856 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 180 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (5.78 per 1,000 boys), NH (4.66 per 1,000 boys), AK (4.4 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Callan is #190 in the US and #650 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.7% of US babies named Callan were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Collin613 US
• Callen579 US · 7 E&W
• Kellan215 US · 4 E&W
• Cullen194 US · 7 E&W
• Caelan43 US · 119 E&W
• Kallen150 US · 3 E&W
• Kallan82 US
• Kaylan18 US · 24 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Callan

Boys

• Hayes#162“brushwood”^*
• Oakley#454“oak + woodland clearing, glade”^*
• Jensen#282Editor’s note Up from #395 in 2015 to #282 in 2025 in the US
• Sutton#332“south + town”^*
• Ford#474Editor’s note Up from #741 in 2015 to #474 in 2025 in the US
• Tatum#202Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #585 in 2015, #202 in 2025

For a sister

• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”^*
• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Callan’s. Rank is US 2025.