Cali
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Meaning
modern short form, possibly of Calista or the place name
The story
Cali is a modern short form with sunshine in it, read variously as a clip of Calista, an echo of the Greek kalos, beautiful, or simply California worn as a name, and our records honestly leave the door open. The sound family is well mapped: Callie, the standard spelling, counts about 69,300, and Kali, the K-signature, about 33,400, with Cali's own 23,700 close behind. The rise was steady: about 175 in the 1970s, 715 in the 1980s, 1,650 in the 1990s, 4,600 in the 2000s, cresting at 11,700 in the 2010s, with 4,900 so far this decade. It goes to girls about 23,300 to 400. Two syllables, a beach in the vowels, and a certificate that reads like a postcard: whichever root a family hears, the weather in the name is the same.
How popular is Cali around the world?
In the United States, 4,883 babies were named Cali between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 17 girls named Cali were registered in 2024, the 215th most common name among girls that year.
Cali is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, Canada, England and Wales, France, Ireland, Mexico City, Argentina and Brazil.
United States
1 in 4,500
In the United States, 4,883 babies were named Cali between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Cali peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. Cali went to 1,467 US babies in 2015 and 533 in 2025, 36% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 2,700
In Scotland, 17 girls named Cali were registered in 2024, the 215th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 7,800
In Canada, 42 girls named Cali were born in 2024, the 685th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 11,000
In England and Wales, 50 girls named Cali were born in 2025, the 733rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
France
1 in 12,000
In France, about 40 girls named Cali were born in 2025, the 944th most common name among girls that year.
In France, about 15 boys named Cali were born in 2025, ranked 1,902nd among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Ireland
1 in 18,000
In Ireland, 3 girls named Cali were born in 2025, the 885th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Mexico City City
1 in 39,000
In Mexico City, there were 3 registrations of Cali in 2022.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Argentina
1 in 95,000
In Argentina, 7 newborns were given the name Cali in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 124 people in Brazil were named Cali, ranked 35,437th, with a median age of 25.
Among people named Cali living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
South Australia
last on record 2016
Cali is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Cali
Most people given the name Cali in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Cali · Names that go with Cali · Short names · Climbers and fallers
The Cali deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Cali truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Cali fits with your family’s names and surname.
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