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California
How to Pronounce California
Pronounced kal-uh-FOR-nee-uh /ˌkæləˈfɔrniə/Medium
Meaning: California is a place-name used as a given name, taken from the U.S. Pacific-coast state. The state's name is generally traced to Calafia, a queen of a fictional island in a sixteenth-century Spanish romance, later applied by explorers to the coast.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
California is used as a given name drawn straight from the U.S. state. The state's own name likely comes from Calafia, a queen in the Spanish romance Las sergas de Esplandian. As a first name it belongs to the small American tradition of place-names given to children.
As a personal name it has always been rare, given to only about sixteen girls a year at its peak around 2007. It reads as an aspirational, distinctly modern place-name.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name California mean?
It is the name of the U.S. state of California, used as a given name; the state's name traces to the literary Calafia.
How do you pronounce California?
It is said kal-uh-FOR-nee-uh /ˌkæləˈfɔrniə/, five syllables with the stress on the fourth.
Is California a boy or girl name?
California is used here as a girl's name.
How popular is California?
As a personal name it has always been rare, given to only about sixteen girls a year at its peak in the late two-thousands.