Cali

Cali: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“modern short form of California or Callie”
Origin
American (modern coinage)
Say it
KAL-ee · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls (98% of all uses)

Often used as a modern nickname-style given name, sometimes inspired by California and sometimes as a variant of Callie. It can also occur independently in other languages, but this exact use is commonly modern.

How popular is Cali?

2024190 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Cali in 2024632

2024 rank#495 girls

Peak year2014

Total US babies since 188023,200

Cali has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Cali

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Calliemost beautiful · Greek
  • Kalithe black one · Sanskrit
  • Kalliebeautiful · Greek
  • Samanthauncertain; probably feminine form of Samuel · American (modern coinage)
  • Raelynnmodern blend of Rae and Lynn · American (modern coinage)
  • Nevaehheaven spelled backward · American (modern coinage)
  • Ellianamodern blend of Ellie and Ana · American (modern coinage)
  • Wrenleymodern blend using Wren and -ley · American (modern coinage)

Cali questions

What does the name Cali mean?

Cali means "modern short form of California or Callie". It comes from American (modern coinage). Often used as a modern nickname-style given name, sometimes inspired by California and sometimes as a variant of Callie. It can also occur independently in other languages, but this exact use is commonly modern.

Is Cali a boy or girl name?

Cali is mainly a girl's name in US records (98% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Cali?

632 US babies were named Cali in 2024. Its peak year was 2014.

How do you pronounce Cali?

Cali is usually pronounced KAL-ee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.