Calum

What Calum means

Means “dove”

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

How popular is Calum?

US: Rising: up from #1910 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #438 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 313 boys got the name (#799 that year). First in the US records in 1978.

How common

• About 1 in 5,457 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 45,323 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 854 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 ID (0.81 per 1,000 boys), NE (0.68 per 1,000 boys), IA (0.51 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Calum is #799 in the US and #3256 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Calum were boys.

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

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Callum2,995 US · 186 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.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Callum

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Calum

Boys

• Idris#694Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #142 vs #694 in 2025
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Killian#417Editor’s note Down from #349 in 2015 to #417 in 2025 in the US
• Rowan#59“little red one”^*
• Alistair#897“to defend + man”^*
• Rhys#410Welsh, from Old Welsh Ris, meaning “ardor, fiery warrior”^*

For a sister

• Maeve#76“intoxicating”^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Gwendolyn#360Variant of Gwendolen, meaning “white, fair, blessed + ring, bow…^*
• Winifred#922Editor’s note Up from #1,437 in 2015 to #922 in 2025 in the US

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 Calum’s. Rank is US 2025.