How popular is the baby name Callista in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Callista.

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Popularity of the baby name Callista


Posts that mention the name Callista

Popular and unique baby names by state, 2018

USA topographic map

We know what the top names in the country were last year, but what about the top names in each state? Here’s the list, released just yesterday by the SSA. I’ve also included each state’s most popular unique names (i.e., names that only appeared in the data for that particular state).

StateTop Names (f & m)Top Unique Names (f & m)
AlabamaAva & WilliamCrimson & Kendarius, Walton (tie)
AlaskaAurora & Oliver(none) & Paxson
ArizonaEmma & LiamSedona & Yadier
ArkansasAva & Noah(none) & Timber
CaliforniaEmma & NoahAni & Aram
ColoradoOlivia & LiamVail & Redding
ConnecticutOlivia & Noah(none) & (none)
DelawareAva & Liam(none) & (none)
D.C.Ava & William(none) & (none)
FloridaIsabella & LiamAbigaelle & Miron
GeorgiaAva & WilliamKaylei & Taylin
HawaiiEmma & LiamMahina & Kaimana
IdahoOlivia & LiamQuincey & Roczen
IllinoisOlivia & NoahJamaya & Laron
IndianaEmma & OliverDawt, Elma (tie) & Jamin
IowaHarper & OliverHuxley & Kinnick
KansasOlivia & LiamMacklyn & Creighton, Whit (tie)
KentuckyEmma & WilliamAnnlee, Terri (tie) & Jansen
LouisianaAva & NoahJaicee, Jersi (tie) & Colston
MaineOliver & Charlotte(none) & (none)
MarylandAva & LiamAnjolaoluwa & Adon, Murtaza (tie)
MassachusettsEmma & BenjaminVittoria & Henrique
MichiganOlivia & NoahLayal & Eldon
MinnesotaEvelyn & HenryMaida & Muhsin
MississippiAva & JohnSwayze & Jadarius
MissouriOlivia & LiamCharlea & Daxten, Zebulun (tie)
MontanaHarper & Liam(none) & (none)
NebraskaOlivia & Liam(none) & (none)
NevadaEmma & Liam(none) & (none)
New HampshireOlivia & Oliver (none) & (none)
New JerseyEmma & LiamTzipora & Binyomin
New MexicoIsabella & Noah(none) & (none)
New YorkEmma & LiamGitty & Mendel
North CarolinaAva & NoahHolden & Nahmir
North DakotaOlivia & Oliver(none) & (none)
OhioAva & LiamWilma & Grayden
OklahomaEmma & LiamDim, Jadyn (tie) & Thang
OregonEmma & OliverRuna & (none)
PennsylvaniaEmma & LiamBarbie, Surah (tie) & Joniel
Rhode IslandAmelia, Olivia (tie) & Liam(none) & (none)
South CarolinaAva & WilliamEmmagrace, Mills (tie) & Drayton, Mills (tie)
South DakotaHarper & Grayson, Henry, Liam (3-way tie)(none) & Ryken
TennesseeEmma & WilliamAnnaclaire, Caylen, Eulalia, Jakyra, Kamri, Parthenia, Tamari, Tylee (8-way tie) & Neyland
TexasEmma & LiamJessi & Eliud
UtahOlivia & OliverMable & Ammon
VermontHarper & Oliver(none) & (none)
VirginiaAva & WilliamTyasia & Alexi, Javonte, Mckinley (3-way tie)
WashingtonOlivia & LiamCallista & Ruvim
West VirginiaEmma & Mason(none) & Bransen
WisconsinEvelyn & Oliver(none) & Broxton, Kelby (tie)
WyomingAmelia, Emma (tie) & Oliver(none) & (none)

A few final thoughts…

  • I love that Aurora is now #1 in Alaska. :)
  • What’s up with Wilma in Ohio? Nine baby girls is nearly a quarter (23%) of the total national usage. Interesting.
  • One of the other unique Utah boy names was Kaladin, which comes from a character in the Stormlight Archive book series by Utah-based fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson.

How about you — what are your thoughts/observations?

Source: Popular Names by State – SSA

Image (USATopographicalMap) by NOAA

Five-name Friday: Boy name for Callista’s brother

You’ve stopped at the supermarket for some eggs. As you examine the contents of each carton one by one, the friendly lady next to you — also hunting for the perfect dozen — strikes up a conversation. At one point she mentions that she’s pregnant, and that she and her partner are trying to find a baby name:

We would like a boy name that sounds good with the name Callista (his older sister). His middle name is probably going to be William.

“Do you have any suggestions?”

You’re a name-lover, and you could potentially give her dozens of suggestions on the spot. But you’ve found a good carton, so you only have time to give her five helpful suggestions before heading off.

But here’s the fun part: Instead of blurting out the first five names you come up with (which is what you’d be forced to do in real life) you get to press a magical “pause” button, brainstorm for a bit, and then “unpause” the scenario to offer her the best five names you can think of.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you brainstorm:

  • Be independent. Decide on your five names before looking at anyone else’s five names.
  • Be sincere. Would you honestly suggest these particular baby names out loud to a stranger in public?
  • Five names only! All names beyond the first five in your comment will be either deleted or replaced with nonsense words.

Finally, here’s the request again:

We would like a boy name that sounds good with the name Callista (his older sister). His middle name is probably going to be William.

Which five baby names are you going to suggest?

Baby name needed: Name that goes with Felicity

A reader is having a baby girl and looking for “a pretty first name.” Bonus points if it starts with an S. She says:

Our last name is a hard German name that starts with a K and rhymes with Dicer. I was thinking of honoring my mother who is Phyllis by making a middle name of Felicity.

Here are a few ideas:

S-NamesOther Names
Sarah
Serena
Selah
Simone
Sonia
Sophia
Sophronia
Stephanie
Susannah
Sybil
Sylvia
Amelia
Callista
Celeste
Elise
Gabrielle
Josephine
Laura
Leah
Lillian
Linnea
Madeleine

Which of the above do you like best? What other names would you suggest?

Baby name needed: Girl name for twin sister

A reader named Ayelet is expecting twins. She and her husband won’t be finding out the babies’ genders ahead of time, so they’d like to be prepared with two boy names and two girl names.

So far they’ve got August and Dominic for the boy names and Celia for one of the girl names. Once they select a second girl name they’ll be all set.

They’d like something that isn’t common (i.e. outside of the top 500). They’re considering Aliyah, Angelie, Aurelia, Eva, Isla, Juliet and Valentina, but Aliena is the current favorite:

The name we love is Aliena. She is a character in Ken Follett’s novel “The Pillars of the Earth,” which is set in twelfth-century England. But we can’t get past the “alien” in the name. I have an Alienor in my family tree, so I thought about going the Eleanor route, but I don’t like that spelling; I think I’m in love with that “Ali” sequence.

The baby’s surname will start and end with the letter n, like Nelson.

First, about Aliena. It’s a pretty name, but I’d also be worried about that “alien” association. I don’t know if I’d risk it as a first name, but it might work well as a middle.

The only alternative I can come up with is Eliana, which is an (unrelated) anagram of Aliena. But it’s ranked 193rd and climbing, so it might be a bit too popular.

Here are some other possibilities. None of these are currently in the top 500, and the ones with asterisks have a-l-i sequences.

Adina
Antonia
Amity
Adele/Adeline
Anneliese
Beatrice
Catalina*
Callista
Coralie*
Corinna
Davina
Estella
Elsa
Eloise
Esme
Flavia
Ginevra
Gwendolyn
Helena
Irina
Isadora
Judith/Judy
Leona
Lavinia
Marina
Martina
Mara
Olive
Oriana
Odette
Paulina
Regina
Rosalie*
Rosaline*
Theresa
Vera
Viola
Verity
Venetia
Zinnia

Finally, there’s the option of simply feminizing one of the boy names. August could become Augusta or Augustina; Dominic could become Dominique or Dominica.

Which of the above girl names do you like best with August, Dominic and/or Celia? What other girl names would you suggest to Ayelet?