Callan vs Callaway
American parents have registered 12,634 Callans since 1880, against 1,221 Callaways. Callan is still ahead, with 1,983 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Callan Callaway
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Callan has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1957 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 2006, when Callan had 73 and Callaway had 26.
Side by side
| Callan | Callaway | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 12,634 | 1,221 |
| Most in one year | 1,983 | 181 |
| Babies in 2025 | 1,983 | 181 |
| Estimated living today | 13,000 | 1,200 |
| Median age today | 4 | 5 |
| Peak year | 2025 | 2025 |
| Best rank | 190th boys | 1,808th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 190th | 1,808th |
| First recorded | 1957 | 1994 |
| Girls / boys | 1,470 / 11,164 | 582 / 639 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Where each one is strongest
- Callan New Hampshire (2.8×), Colorado (2.5×), Minnesota (2.1×)
- Callaway Tennessee (8.4×), Georgia (6.7×), Texas (4.8×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Callan and Callaway.