The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Caleb!

Comments and insights on the name Caleb: | Edit

The name Caleb is #9 on the list of top 100 cool baby boy names in the baby name book "Cool Names" by Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz.

Can be pronounced as Kay-Lev (closer to the original hebrew) or Cale-eb.

This name is often hard for foreigners to pronounce. i.e. spanish speaker often say Kah-lub, and korean speakers, Kay-Rob.

Personal experiences with the name Caleb: | Edit

We named our son Caleb in May of 2008. It is a strong, masculine name, and we love the story of Caleb in the Bible. We do get asked if it is spelled with a C or a K a lot. Oh, and we did his nursery in puppies. =)

Our son Caleb was born in 1994. His nursery theme was Noah's Ark with different colorful animals. We love the name because it's a biblical name & we love the story too. About two years after he was born, my father found the name Caleb from the early 1900's in our family tree album so it was pretty neat it was like naming after a family member. :)

Nicknames for Caleb: | Edit

Cale, Cal, Cab, Cabes, Cabela, Cabe, Cub, Leb

Meanings and history of the name Caleb: | Edit

In America, Caleb means bold & loyal. From the Hebrew Ka, meaning "like, as" and Lev, meaning "heart," making the meaning "like the heart." In France, Leo is the french name for Caleb.

After going through lots of different meanings of Caleb I've come to the conclusion that it means faithful or loyal. Some say it means dog and one thing that a lot of dogs are known for is being loyal. Others say Caleb means of the heart and when I think of the heart I think of truth, honesty, and faithfulness.

Famous real-life people named Caleb: | Edit

Caleb Turman, Guitarist of 'Forever the Sickest Kids'
Caleb Carr, author
Caleb Campbell, football player
Son of actress Julianne Moore

Caleb in song, story & screen: | Edit

Caleb is the youngest child of Jacob Whitting in "Sarah, Plain and Tall" (both movie & book)
Caleb is the husband in the movie "Fireproof".
Caleb is a young man in the tv soap opera "The Young & The Restless"
Caleb is a brother in "7 brides for 7 brothers"
"Searching for Caleb" is an amazing book by Anne Tyler
Caleb Trask is a character in John Steinbeck's 1952 novel "East of Eden"
Caleb Trask is a character in the 1955 film "East of Eden"