# Kaleb (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kaleb/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “dog” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkeɪ.ləb/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 86,851 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 86,649 / 202 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,724, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Hebrew כלב (“dog”), possibly referring to a dog’s unconditional devotion to its master.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 7 | 11,966 |
| 2000 | 7 | 12,428 |
| 2001 | 14 | 7,514 |
| 2002 | 7 | 12,858 |
| 2003 | 9 | 10,841 |
| 2004 | 24 | 5,291 |
| 2006 | 10 | 10,999 |
| 2007 | 10 | 11,211 |
| 2008 | 8 | 13,167 |
| 2009 | 10 | 11,060 |
| 2010 | 6 | 15,923 |
| 2012 | 7 | 14,205 |
| 2014 | 6 | 15,552 |
| 2016 | 5 | 17,503 |
| 2017 | 5 | 17,088 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3,344 | 116 |
| 2012 | 2,997 | 126 |
| 2013 | 2,871 | 137 |
| 2014 | 2,770 | 146 |
| 2015 | 2,535 | 164 |
| 2016 | 2,261 | 176 |
| 2017 | 2,116 | 184 |
| 2018 | 1,927 | 207 |
| 2019 | 1,789 | 213 |
| 2020 | 1,614 | 231 |
| 2021 | 1,455 | 244 |
| 2022 | 1,343 | 259 |
| 2023 | 1,241 | 271 |
| 2024 | 1,225 | 279 |
| 2025 | 1,143 | 295 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 136 | 325 |
| 2012 | 127 | 346 |
| 2013 | 117 | 350 |
| 2014 | 118 | 355 |
| 2015 | 128 | 355 |
| 2016 | 132 | 353 |
| 2017 | 145 | 333 |
| 2018 | 123 | 369 |
| 2019 | 101 | 417 |
| 2020 | 111 | 384 |
| 2021 | 129 | 347 |
| 2022 | 135 | 324 |
| 2023 | 155 | 290 |
| 2024 | 145 | 308 |
| 2025 | 119 | 352 |

## People named Kaleb

- Kaleb Tarczewski, American basketball player (born 1993)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.