Name of the Week

The lively Scottish lad that shot to fame in the late 20th century
and is still going strong throughout Britain.

 

Origin:

Callum (or Calum) is the Scots Gaelic form of Columba, a Latin name meaning "dove". In early Christianity, the dove symbolised peace, gentleness and the Holy Spirit, so when applied to a person we can imagine it took on quite an auspicious meaning. Columba was a name borne by several early saints, but the most notable of all is St Columba, "the Apostle of Caledonia," an Irish missionary to Scotland. In 563, Columba, a prince of the O'Donnells of Donegal, sailed to Scotland with several companions. He landed at Iona, founding his famous monastery, and travelled across the Highlands and Northern Lowlands preaching Christianity. He was a great success, and by the time of his death most of northern Scotland was Christianized. In a play on his name, Columba was also known as Colum Cille (Columcille) "dove of the church" or "peaceful man of the church," and from Colum came Calum.

Usage:

So influential was St Columba, he is considered one of Scotland and Ireland's most famous saints. He even ranks with St Patrick and St Bridget as one of the three patron saints of Ireland. It's no surprise then that his name became extremely popular in both Scotland and Ireland during the Middle Ages.  In Ireland, the name Columba became Columbán, and then shortened to Colmán or Colm. So common was the name, it was even picked up by Scandinavian settlers who rendered it into the form Kalman. From them, the name spread into England, giving rise to the surnames Calman, Colman, Coleman and Coulman. In Scotland Callum led to the surnames MacCallum, McCallum, McCollum and McCullum. Several baptism records for Callum (in this spelling) in Scotland survive from the 17th century, and through to the 18th century. Though written baptisms are rare before that time, one record — Callum Mccolyne baptised in Perth in 1573 — shows that the name was in use in this form in the late Middle Ages. Only a rare few baptisms for the name crop up in England in the 18th century, but these could be surnames co-opted as first names. From the 19th century and through the 20th century, Callum took off again in Scotland. The rise began steadily, until it shot to popularity in the 1950s, peaking in the 1990s. This can be seen in the registrations of the name in the Statutory Births Register of Scotland (the first number represents the spelling Callum, the second Calum): 1855-1864: 12 / 0 births 1865-1874: 22 / 1 births 1875-1884: 13 / 0 births 1885-1894: 26 / 2 births 1895-1904: 39 / 2 births 1905-1914: 35 / 14 births 1915-1924: 39 / 15 births 1925-1934: 57 / 33 births 1935-1944: 76 / 52 births 1945-1954: 157 / 110 births 1955-1964: 569 / 705 births 1965-1974: 607 / 1174 births   (Calum ranked #78 in 1975 in Scotland) 1975-1984: 665 / 844 births 1985-1994: 3537 / 3158 births 1995-2004: 6813 / 3913 births     In 1998, Callum ranked #10 and Calum ranked #25 in Scotland. By 2000, Callum was still #10, with Calum at #29; it was #8 and #33 respectively in 2003, #3 and #30 in 2006, #10 and #54 in 2009 and #24 and #68 in 2012. In England and Wales, the name remained rare in the 19th century. Only one Callum was registered from 1838 to 1920: a Callum Savage in 1841. The change came in the mid-20th century, when the growing popularity of Callum in Scotland spread beyond to England, Wales and even Australia and Canada. From not ranking at all in the Top 100 in 1984, by 1994, Callum had shot to #31 in England and Wales. In 1998, Callum peaked at #8 while Calum had fallen from the 90-95 mark to #108; in 2000 they were #10 and #138 respectively, #19 and #163 in 2003, #13 and #103 in 2006, #28 and #225 in 2009 and #46 and 361 in 2011.

Famous Bearers:

History:  * Calum Maclean (1915–1960), Scottish folklorist, ethnographer and writer. * Calum MacKay (1927–2001), Canadian ice hockey player. * Calum Kennedy (1928–2006), Scottish singer. Contemporary: * Several Scottish and English professional football players bear the name Cal(l)um, including, Calum Angus, Calum Brady, Calum Butcher, Calum Davenport, Callum Davidson, Calum Elliot and Calum Reidford. * Callum Keith Rennie (b. 1960), a British-born Canadian television and film actor. * Callum MacLeod (b. 1988), British race car driver. Other: * Callum, a community in Ontario, Canada. Celebrity-Babies: * Calum Best (b.1981), son of footballer George Best, now a television presenter.

Variants:

Calum (Scottish), Colm, Colmán (Irish), Columba (Latin), Kalman (Norse), Kolman (German), Koloman (Czech)

Pronunciation:

KAL-əm [key]

Possible diminutives:

Cal

Sibling Names:

Niamh     Erin     Amy     Skye     Bethan     Emily  Liam     Ryan     Connor     Ethan     Logan     Dylan

Name Lists:

Cosy Celtic   Lively Lads

 

If you like Callum you may also like:   Adam, Rhys, Declan, Lewis, Harris, Rory, Nathan, Arran, Riley, Ewan

 

Thanks to Jay for requesting Callum.