Calla
About Calla
Calla is a botanical name that is much more distinctive than popular Lily or similar Callie. Rarely heard today, it did appear in the popularity lists in the last decades of the nineteenth century.
Ultimately from the Greek kallos meaning "beauty", Calla is the name of two separate but similar plants, notably the white calla lily. Given to 130 girls year, it is currently less popular than similar choices such as Kaia, Clara, Cali, Willa, and Calliope, but wouldn't seem out of place among them.
Calla is the eponymous heroine of the Rebecca Wells novel The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder, and there's an English rock band called Her Name is Calla.
Actress Mare Winningham named her daughter Calla way back in 1987 while sound-alike Cala is an Arabic name meaning fortress.
As of October 2026, Calla ranked #1397 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #633 in 1881, Nameberry popularity #711.
Editor's take: The name Calla is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "beautiful".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,557 | 140 | 78.4 |
| 2015 | #1,567 | 140 | 78.4 |
| 2016 | #1,412 | 164 | 92.5 |
| 2017 | #1,322 | 176 | 101.9 |
| 2018 | #1,693 | 122 | 71.7 |
| 2019 | #1,833 | 111 | 66.1 |
| 2020 | #1,560 | 135 | 83.5 |
| 2021 | #1,568 | 134 | 81.7 |
| 2022 | #1,576 | 135 | 82.3 |
| 2023 | #1,604 | 130 | 81 |
| 2024 | #1,514 | 142 | 87.6 |
| 2025 | #1,397 | 156 | 97.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Calla.
- Niamh
- Anais
- Bryony
- Zora
- Coralie
- Linnea
- Enya
- Eira
- Rhiannon
- Neve
- Seren
- Aurelie
- Arwen
- Aveline
- Veda
- Cerys
- Mira
- Soleil
- Saskia
- Cosette
Calla on lists
Famous Callas
- Calla Vita Urbanski
American pair ice skater
- Calla Curman
Swedish writer and salonist
- Calla Louise Mapel (b. 1987)
daughter of actress Mare Winningham and William Mapel
- Calla Henkel
American writer; author of the novel "Other People's Clothes"
Calla in pop culture
- Princess Calla
character on animated series "Gummi Bears"
- Calla Lily Ponder
character in "The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder"
- Calla Matthews
character on American soap "Guiding Light"
- Calla Gaxton
character in 1956 film "Pillars of the Sky"
- Calla Mackie
character in "Rachel, Rachel" (1968)
- Calla
character in "The Summer of Firsts and Lasts"
- Calla
character from "The Raven Cycle" book series by Maggie Stiefvater
- Calla Tor
main character in the "Nightshade" series
- "Her Name is Calla
" English rock band
- "Wolves of the Calla
" Stephen King novel
- Calla Lily
a flower
- Calla Nomeolvides
character from "Wild Beauty" by Anna,Marie McLemore