Calem
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- KAL-em
- Origin
- Scottish
- US rank, 2025
- #6,799 for boys
Calem is a boys' name of Scottish origin, meaning “dove”. In 2025 it ranked 6,799th for boys in the US (12 babies).
What does Calem mean?
Scottish: spelling of Kalem; probably a variant of Callum, the Gaelic form of Columba
“dove”
Saint Columba, the Irish monk who founded the abbey on Iona, gave Scotland the name Calum.
Meaning borrowed from Kalem.
Is Calem a girl's or a boy's name?
Calem is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 12 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Calem in the UK?
No boys in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 1996, with 10 boys.
Half of all the boys named Calem in the UK since 1996 were born between 1998 and 2006. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier boys aren't counted.
Calem in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | #6,364 |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 0 | – |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 4 | #3,986 |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 3 | #4,691 |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 4 | #3,748 |
| 2006 | 3 | #4,204 |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 3 | #3,792 |
| 2003 | 3 | #3,593 |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 6 | #2,049 |
| 2000 | 6 | #1,977 |
| 1999 | 4 | #2,513 |
| 1998 | 6 | #1,932 |
| 1997 | 0 | – |
| 1996 | 10 | #1,290 |
How popular is Calem in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #6,799among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 12about 1 in 140,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 12 boys in the US were named Calem, making it the 6,799th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 10,599th. Its busiest year was 2009, with 21 boys. It first appears in the records in 1977.
Half of all the boys named Calem in the US since 1880 were born between 2001 and 2017, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 3,466 boys in the US were given Calem or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #114, up from #6,799 for this spelling alone.
Calem in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12 | #6,799 |
| 2024 | 11 | #7,252 |
| 2023 | 19 | #5,070 |
| 2022 | 18 | #5,211 |
| 2021 | 12 | #6,693 |
| 2020 | 6 | #10,599 |
| 2019 | 16 | #5,551 |
| 2018 | 11 | #7,132 |
| 2017 | 9 | #8,136 |
| 2016 | 12 | #6,721 |
| 2015 | 13 | #6,320 |
| 2014 | 16 | #5,481 |
| 2013 | 15 | #5,655 |
| 2012 | 17 | #5,250 |
| 2011 | 15 | #5,670 |
| 2010 | 15 | #5,737 |
| 2009 | 21 | #4,580 |
| 2008 | 16 | #5,482 |
| 2007 | 9 | #8,169 |
| 2006 | 10 | #7,422 |
| 2005 | 17 | #4,819 |
| 2004 | 14 | #5,487 |
| 2003 | 13 | #5,551 |
| 2002 | 6 | #9,385 |
| 2001 | 12 | #5,660 |
| 2000 | 10 | #6,309 |
| 1999 | 7 | #7,867 |
| 1998 | 8 | #6,837 |
| 1997 | 7 | #7,275 |
| 1996 | 5 | #9,008 |
| 1995 | 8 | #6,400 |
| 1994 | 6 | #7,764 |
| 1993 | 10 | #5,353 |
| 1992 | 6 | #7,414 |
| 1991 | 8 | #5,934 |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 6 | #6,934 |
| 1988 | 5 | #7,264 |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 6 | #5,780 |
| 1984 | 0 | – |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 0 | – |
| 1981 | 5 | #6,260 |
| 1980 | 0 | – |
| 1979 | 0 | – |
| 1978 | 0 | – |
| 1977 | 5 | #5,843 |
Nicknames for Calem
- Kal 6 boys in the UK in 2025
Names like Calem
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Callum Liam Cameron Connor Adam Brody Finley Logan Dylan Fraser Ronan Owen
Other spellings of Calem
Names related to Calem
More Scottish names
Isla Arabella Bonnie Paisley Carson Maxwell Brodie Finlay Blair Lennox Skye Knox Dallas Lochlan Reid Lachlan
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Calem: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/calem, updated 20 October 2026.