Callum

What Callum means

Variant of Calum, meaning “dove”

variant of Calum || From Scottish Gaelic Calum, from Late Latin Columba (literally “dove”), the name of a sixth century Scottish saint, one of the patron saints of Scotland.

Source: Wiktionary, “Callum” (revision 91201662) and “Calum” (revision 93367993), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Callum?

US: Rising: up from #685 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #83 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 2,995 boys got the name (#118 that year). First in the US records in 1983.

How common

• About 1 in 570 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,462 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 281 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 NH (6.66 per 1,000 boys), VT (6.6 per 1,000 boys), WY (5.5 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Callum is #118 in the US and #251 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.7% of US babies named Callum were boys.

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

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Calum313 US · 6 E&W
• Kallum114 US · 5 E&W
• Caelum97 US · 5 E&W
• Kalum23 US
• Kaelum15 US
• Kaylum9 US · 3 E&W
• Calem12 US
• Caellum10 US

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 Callum

Boys

• Rowan#59“little red one”^*
• Idris#694Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #142 vs #694 in 2025
• Rhys#410Welsh, from Old Welsh Ris, meaning “ardor, fiery warrior”^*
• Kian#400Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #400 in 2025 in the US
• Liam#1Form of William, meaning “will + helmet”^*
• Alistair#897“to defend + man”^*

For a sister

• Maeve#76“intoxicating”^*
• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Gwendolyn#360Variant of Gwendolen, meaning “white, fair, blessed + ring, bow…^*
• Gwen#725Same root as Wendy, meaning “watercourse with a bend + island”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Callum’s. Rank is US 2025.