Recorded 1917–2025 · United States
Cale was most popular in 2008, when 409 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,329 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,826, with 47 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 8,291 people named Cale.
Cale first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1917, which makes it about 108 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 72 of the 109 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 8,291 American births named Cale between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 7,993 are estimated to be alive today.
47 American babies were named Cale in 2025, ranking #5,826 that year.
Cale is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 38 births a year, against 196 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -80% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Cale is a boy’s name — 1.0% of the 8,291 Americans given it were girls and 99.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 7,993 Americans named Cale are alive today — 96% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 24 years old, and half are between 17 and 37.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Cale on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org