Calista is the Latinized form of the Greek Kallisto, meaning "most beautiful", the name of a nymph of Artemis whom Zeus placed in the sky as the Great Bear. Actress Calista Flockhart made the name briefly fashionable in the United States around 2000 through the TV series Ally McBeal. Calista peaked at number 627 in 2000, left the top 1000 within a few years and ranks at number 1597 in 2025.