Name of the Week: Caleb

 

Origin:

Caleb is a Hebrew name borne by three minor figures in the Old Testament. The most notable was Caleb, son of Jephunneh who was sent by Moses into Canaan to find the Promised Land and who became the eponymous ancestor of the clan of Calebites. The meaning of the name is under debate. It looks on the surface to be derived from the Hebrew keleb (כֶּלֶב) "dog" but this is a curious meaning for a Hebrew name given that dogs were not looked upon favourably in Judea. Indeed, keleb was used as a term of contempt* so its use as a name is odd and has kept scholars puzzling for centuries.  Margolis argued that "in the light of the cognate Syriac and Arabic words, the meaning is not "dog," [...] but "raging with canine madness"."* Other sources shy away from the meaning "dog" and extend it instead to mean "faithful" or "devotion" -- attributes that we commonly give to dogs in the modern Western world.  Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible Same argues that the root word keleb may also have the meaning of "forcible" and could be related to kelub "basket, cage."* Therefore, from the same root, Caleb could mean "the forcible one" or "the caged one."  It is generally thought that Caleb's tribe were originally pagans who became assimilated into the Jewish nation, so it is quite possible that Caleb's name was of non-Hebrew origin, but later became altered to match keleb. Others think that perhaps the dog was the totem of Caleb's clan.* Given that there were no vowels recorded in Hebrew until the late Roman period, it is also possible that keleb originally had an alternate meaning other than "dog."  Another popular theory is that Caleb is a compound name derived from the Hebrew kol "the whole, all" (itself a derivative of kalal "to complete, perfect") and leb "mind, will, heart."

Usage:

Caleb did not see use as a given name until the 16th century in Britain. According to Smith Bannister, Caleb saw some use among the poor of Exeter in the 16th and 17th century, but overall was uncommon.  It saw more use in the late 18th and early 19th century, when Old Testament names became common among the working class. William Godwin used the name for the main character in his first-person narrative novel Things as They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams, published in 1794. Similarly, Caleb Garth was a character in George Eliot's Middlemarch (1871) and Charles Dickens used the name for a character in his novella The Cricket on the Hearth (1845). By 1840, Caleb was in the top 100 in England and Wales but had fallen below by 1860.  Records for Caleb as a first name in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900: #89 #87 #101 #141 #166 #209 #225 After falling out of the top 100, Caleb continued to fall until it became quite rare in the 1940s and 1950s. It began to pick up use in the 1970s until it was back in the top 200 by the late 1990s.  In America, Caleb saw a massive rise in use when it went from #932 in 1968 to #108 twenty years later in 1988. It broke into the US top 100 the following year in 1989 and reached a peak at #31 in 2009. Though it is in decline, Caleb still ranked at #50 in 2017. By 1996, Caleb ranked #183 with 177 births in England and Wales. It didn't see much moving in the following years until 2003 when it began its steady rise.  Caleb first entered the top 100 in England and Wales in 2010 but saw a brief decline shortly after. By 2016, the name had picked up use again, ranking #77 with 853 births in 2017.  Caleb saw the same rise in Scotland. It first began its steady rise in 1996 when it ranked #221 (10 births), first entering the Scottish top 100 in 2007, peaking at #51 (148 births) in 2011.  In 2017 in Scotland, Caleb ranked higher at #37, but a smaller birth count than in 2007 with 139 births.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Caleb Banks (1659–1696), English politician. * Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (d. 1665), first Native American graduate of Harvard University. * Caleb Strong (1745–1819), sixth and tenth Governor of Massachusetts. * Caleb Atwater (1778–1867), American archaeologist, historian, and politician. Contemporary: * Caleb Martin (1924–1994), American football player. * Caleb Folan (born 1982), English footballer. * Caleb Followill (born 1982), lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Kings of Leon. * Caleb Hanie (born 1985), American football player. * Caleb Binge (born 1993), Australian rugby league player. * Caleb Brantley (born 1994), American football player. * Caleb McLaughlin (born 2001), American actor. Literature and Other Media: * Caleb Williams, the main character in William Godwin's novel Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794). * Caleb Garth, a character in George Eliot's novel Middlemarch (1871). * Caleb Trask, a major character in John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden (1952). * Caleb Temple, main character in the 1995 television series American Gothic. * Caleb Nichol, a character in The O.C. television series. * Caleb Rivers, a character from the TV series Pretty Little Liars. * Caleb Dingle, character from the TV series Emmerdale.

Variants:

Kaleb

Pronunciation:

KAY-ləb [key]

Possible diminutives:

Cay, Cabe, Cal, Cale, Cub, Cubby

Sibling Names:

Georgia     Anna     Lucy     Sara     Bella      Molly  Jacob     Isaac     Noah     Seth     Jesse     Leon

Name Lists:

Popular Biblical  Dickensian Names

 

If you like Caleb you may also like:   Amos, Reuben, Elliot, Dylan, Ethan, Joel, Ezra, Nathan, Jude, Callum

Thanks to Jean for requesting this name.