Callum

KAL-um

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The name Callum means “dove, follower of Saint Columba.” It comes from the Scottish language tradition.

Callum derives from the Scottish Gaelic 'Calum,' itself from the Latin 'columba' (dove). Saint Columba (Colm Cille) was an Irish monk who founded the famous monastery on the island of Iona, one of the most important religious centers in medieval Scotland. Callum has been a top name in Scotland for decades.

Wiktionary records Callum as a Scottish surname shortened from McCallum, and as a variant of Calum. Calum descends from the Latin Columba, meaning dove, which is the source of the dove reading — though the sources found here document the surname route more directly than the Columba one.

The Columba connection points to St Columba, the sixth-century Irish missionary who founded the monastery on Iona, and the name has long been common in Scotland for that reason. A Wikipedia result retrieved for this name described Callan instead, a different name from Ó Cathaláin, and has been disregarded.

• Callum Turner (British actor)
• Callum Wilson (English footballer)
• Callum Scott (British singer)

Sibling names that share Callum's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.