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