Roman Catholic Inspired Names

Calix is once-obscure name that is starting to see some use in the US, where 47 baby boys were named Calix in 2023. An indirect influence is the actress Calista Flockhart, who introduced Americans to the female version of this attractive Greek name to prominence.

Calista Flockhart spotlighted this lovely Greek name that has a long future in the English-speaking world. Kallista is another spelling; Calixta and Calixto are related.

Callum, a charming Scottish name high on the list in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, is rising through the ranks in the US now too. And it comes complete with the easy nickname Cal.

The Spanish Camila, pronounced ka-MEE-la, is the fastest rising version of this ancient Roman name, but recent royal Camilla may have helped promote the British brand. In Roman myth, Camilla was a swift-footed huntress so fast she could run over a field without bending a blade of grass.

At one time just the sound of the name Camille could start people coughing, recalling the tragic Lady of the Camellias, the heroine played by Greta Garbo in the vintage film based on a Dumas story, but that image has faded, replaced by a sleek, chic, highly attractive one.

The campion is a pretty woodland plant with pink or red flowers, whose common name derives from Old French champion "champion". The plant is so called because in classical times, the rose campion was fitted in garlands used to crown victors.

While Charlotte and Caroline are considered stylish and classic members of the Charles family, this somewhat severe Germanic form is fading. It reached its apex at Number 76 in 1965.

Energetic Italian classic that would blend with a surname of any ethnicity.

Carlos is the Spanish and Portuguese variation of Charles, which has been used in solid numbers in the US for as long as data has been kept. Carlos has never fallen out of the Top 600, but peaked from the 70s-early 2000s. Today Carlos is still within the Top 200. Notable namesakes include musician Santana, writers Fuentes and Castaneda, and numerous athletes. Carlos Irwin Estevez is the birth name of Charlie Sheen.

Carmel is a biblical place-name heard much more frequently in Ireland than in the U.S. and is considered a particularly Catholic name. It is given in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and is the name of a mountain ridge on the Mediterranean near Haifa in Israel, mentioned in the Old Testament, famous for its lush vegetation and said to have been often visited by Mary and the Infant Christ.

Most familiar as the name of Tony Soprano's wife, but she spelled it Carmela.

Carmen has long been associated with the sensuous, tragic heroine of Bizet's opera, based on a novel by Prosper Merimee; more recently it has called to mind two other bombshells: Carmen Miranda (born Maria) and Carmen Electra (born Tara), as well as the great jazz singer Carmen McRae. In the celebrity baby name world, this classic Spanish name for girls was used by Hilaria and Alec Baldwin for their daughter.

A Caroline abbreviation that was wildly popular with Mom's generation...or Grandma's. At one time it was a name for baby girls born at Christmas. because of its association with Christmas carols.