Given name & surname · also Irish
Callaghan
Callaghan is a masculine given name from Irish.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Callaghan is a form of Callahan. Callahan comes from Irish.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1994. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Callaghan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 438
- 374 boys · 64 girls
- Most popular year
- 2022
- 51 babies
- 2025
- 48
- #3,002 for boys · #12,158 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +166%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 41 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,002 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 130.7% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 7 birth records for girls in 2025. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 280 as a first name in 2020; 6,017 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Callaghan’s family of names
In English usage, Callaghan has a related form in CALLAHAN.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Callaghan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Calahan
Calahan is a surname from Irish.
>99% boys
Alastor
“helper and defender of mankind”
>99% boys
Lachlann
“loch” · “place of”
>99% boys
Caffrey
Caffrey is a surname from Irish.
>99% boys
Keagan
“small and fiery woman” · “a small and fiery man”
80% boys · 20% girls
Buchanan
Buchanan is a masculine given name from Scottish Gaelic. It is used in English and Italian.
>99% boys
Whelan
“descendant of Faolán”
>99% boys
Eoghan
“the little swift one”
>99% boys