Cale is usually a short form of Caleb, the Hebrew name traditionally explained as "whole heart" or "faithful", though it may literally mean "dog"; it can also come from the English surname Cale or be a respelling of the Gaelic Cael. Cale was at number 839 in 2000, peaked at number 624 in 2008 and has fallen out of the top 1,000 since, down to number 2,722 in 2025 with 47 births.