Caleb
Meaning of Caleb
Caleb—pronounced KAY-lub—traces its sturdy roots to the Hebrew “Kalev,” a word scholars link both to “kelev” (dog) and to an ancient idiom for being “wholehearted,” a semantic pairing that, one suspects, would delight the biblical Caleb, the loyal spy who doggedly (pun, alas, unavoidable) championed the Promised Land; carried across the Atlantic by the Puritans, the name hibernated for a century or two before bounding back into fashion, climbing from a modest 566th in 1950 to a confident 48th in 2024, with roughly 5,700 American newborns now answering to it each year. Its appeal lies in that blend of rugged consonants and open-hearted meaning: Caleb feels at once time-tested and neighborly, equally suited to a little boy chasing fireflies in the backyard and to the corner-office plaque of the man he may become.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as KAY-lub (/ˈkeɪləb/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
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Notable People Named Caleb
| Caleb Swanigan was an American NBA player who played college basketball at Purdue, was a top 2015 recruit, led Homestead High to its first state title, and earned Indiana Mr. Basketball and McDonalds All American honors. |
| Caleb Hunter Plant is an American professional boxer who held the IBF super middleweight title from 2019 to 2021 and the WBA interim super middleweight title from 2024 to 2025. |
| Caleb Joseph is an American former MLB catcher who played for the Orioles, Diamondbacks, and Blue Jays from 2014 to 2020, and his brother Corban also played in MLB. |
| Caleb Martin is an American NBA player for the Dallas Mavericks who starred at NC State and Nevada, won the 2017-18 Mountain West Player of the Year, and is the twin brother of Cody Martin. |
| Caleb Porter is an American soccer coach who most recently led the New England Revolution, won MLS Cups with Portland in 2015 and Columbus in 2020, and earlier guided Akron to the 2010 NCAA title and coached the US under 23 team. |
| Caleb Antill is an Australian Olympic rower and multiple national champion who won the 2016 U23 world title, medaled at the 2018 and 2022 World Championships, and earned Tokyo 2021 quad scull bronze. |
| Caleb McLaughlin is an American actor best known for playing Lucas Sinclair in the Netflix series Stranger Things, who began as young Simba in the Broadway musical The Lion King and later appeared in High Flying Bird, starred in Concrete Cowboy, and took roles in The New Edition Story and television voice work. |
| Caleb Anthony Smith is an American baseball pitcher now with the Dorados de Chihuahua in the Mexican League, previously pitching in MLB for the Yankees, Marlins, and Diamondbacks. |
| Caleb Truax is an American professional boxer who held the IBF super middleweight title from 2017 to 2018, challenged for it again in 2021, and also challenged for the WBA regular middleweight title in 2015. |
| Caleb Farley is an American football cornerback who played at Virginia Tech and was a first round pick by the Tennessee Titans in 2021. |
| Caleb Eugene Green is an American former professional basketball power forward who stands 6 feet 8 inches and played college basketball at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. |
| Caleb Paul Ferguson is an American MLB pitcher for the Seattle Mariners who previously played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and Pittsburgh Pirates. |
| Caleb Landry Jones is an American actor and musician known for X-Men First Class, Get Out, Twin Peaks, and Three Billboards, winning Cannes and AACTA best actor awards for Nitram. |
| Caleb Demond Mills is a former American college basketball player for the Memphis Tigers, previously with the Houston Cougars and Florida State Seminoles. |
| Caleb Martin Furst is an American basketball player who played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. |
