The baby name Caleb reached peak usage during the early 2000s.
Years later, in 2021 — amid the decline of Caleb — the usage of the rare spelling variant Caeleb suddenly tripled:
- 2023: 6 baby boys named Caeleb
- 2022: 11 baby boys named Caeleb
- 2021: 15 baby boys named Caeleb
- 2020: 5 baby boys named Caeleb
- 2019: 6 baby boys named Caeleb
Why?
I think the uptick corresponds to the success of swimmer Caeleb Dressel at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in the summer of 2021 (after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Dressel won a whopping five gold medals in Tokyo. He obtained three of them in individual events (the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle, and the 100-meter butterfly) and two more in a pair of 100-meter relays.
As one sports reporter put it, “There will never be another Michael Phelps, but if there’s such a thing as the next-best thing, Caeleb Dressel is absolutely it.”
Dressel has already won one gold medal in Paris. If he continues to do well, do you think he’ll influence U.S. baby names again?
Sources:
- Caeleb Dressel – Wikipedia
- Norlander, Matt. “With five golds in Tokyo, Caeleb Dressel proves life after Michael Phelps is still dominant for Team USA.” CBS Sports 1 Aug. 2021.
- SSA
Image: Adapted from Caeleb Dressel is congratulated by Tripp Cooper after winning 100 fly by JD Lasica under CC BY 2.0.
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