| Bronte | Callista | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Thunder | Most beautiful |
| Origin | Greek | greek |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | BRON-tee | kuh-LIS-tuh |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1969 | 1914 |
| Peak year | 1992 (131) | 1999 (137) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 42 |
| Trend | Vintage | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Bronte | Callista |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 51 | 250 |
| 2010s | 106 | 567 |
| 2000s | 203 | 901 |
| 1990s | 548 | 424 |
| 1980s | 0 | 197 |
| 1970s | 0 | 44 |
| 1960s | 6 | 5 |
| 1950s | 0 | 28 |
| 1930s | 0 | 6 |
| 1920s | 0 | 23 |
| 1910s | 0 | 40 |
Brontë means “thunder” in Greek, famously the surname of the literary sisters.
From Greek kallistos/kallistē 'most beautiful', the superlative of kalos, from kallos 'beauty'. Kalliste was a title of the goddess Artemis; the mythological nymph Kallisto bears the same root.
Callista is more popular than Bronte today: about 42 US babies were given the name Callista in 2025, compared with 0 named Bronte.
Bronte means Thunder (Greek origin), while Callista means Most beautiful (greek origin).
In US records, Bronte first appears in 1969 and Callista in 1914, so Callista has the longer recorded history.