I adore [name_u]Cal[/name_u]. I don’t, however, love any of the longer forms for it quite as much, nor do I love the idea of [name_u]Cal[/name_u] on its own. [name_m]Charles[/name_m] and [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] are the two that I am going between, but if you have any other suggestions I’d love to hear them. Quirky [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] would obviously lead to [name_u]Cal[/name_u], while [name_m]Charles[/name_m] would be a lovely, classic route, but not necessarily intuitive.
Others I’ve considered are [name_m]Callahan[/name_m], [name_m]Calloway[/name_m], and [name_u]Calder[/name_u], but they’re all a bit too surnamey for me. I’ve also tried putting in “cal” to the Nameberry “find a name” search and seeing what comes up, but was still undecided afterwards.
[name_m]Charles[/name_m] and [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] are both great ideas. I assume you’ve ruled out [name_m]Callen[/name_m], [name_m]Callum[/name_m], [name_m]Caleb[/name_m]… maybe [name_m]Calix[/name_m]?
Or something that starts with C and ends in l, like [name_m]Cashel[/name_m] or [name_m]Conall[/name_m]? both of which have more intuitive nicknames ([name_m]Cash[/name_m] and [name_u]Con[/name_u]) but I think [name_u]Cal[/name_u] could work.
[name_m]Calvin[/name_m], [name_m]Calix[/name_m] and [name_m]Callum[/name_m] are the three that come to mind. [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] is definitely more classic, and the other two feel very cool and modern to me.
[name_m]Calvin[/name_m]‘s my favorite way! I also rather like [name_m]Callan[/name_m] and [name_m]Callum[/name_m]/[name_m]Calum[/name_m]. I think you could probably get to it through [name_m]Malachi[/name_m], too. Personally, I have [name_m]Caleb[/name_m] nn [name_u]Cal[/name_u]. You don’t get the [name_u]Cal[/name_u] sound with [name_m]Caleb[/name_m], but [name_u]Cal[/name_u] is right in there, and [name_m]Caleb[/name_m] is by far my favorite boys’ name. I do like [name_u]Calder[/name_u], too. It feels very naturey to me, sort of like [name_u]Spencer[/name_u] meets the [name_m]Rocky[/name_m] Mountains.
I also love the nickname [name_u]Cal[/name_u]. We considered [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] and [name_m]Callum[/name_m] for our son and ultimately went with [name_m]Callum[/name_m]. I think [name_m]Calloway[/name_m] and [name_m]Caledon[/name_m] would be nice choices as well.
Forgive me if someone already said this but you’re perhaps looking for [name_m]Callum[/name_m], I love it and it leafs straight to cal without adding anything undesirable.
I love love love [name_m]Callum[/name_m] (it is a GP in my siggy) but I also really like [name_m]Calvin[/name_m], it has a quirky, fresh sound to it. I love [name_m]Charles[/name_m] too, but I don’t think [name_u]Cal[/name_u] is an intuitive nn. Have you considered [name_f]Callisto[/name_f] or is that too out there? I like [name_m]Callan[/name_m]/[name_m]Callen[/name_m] too. [name_u]Cal[/name_u] is an awesome nn, I hope you find the right full name for it!
The only names I can think of that haven’t been mentioned are [name_m]Calhoun[/name_m], [name_m]Caledon[/name_m], [name_f]Callisto[/name_f], and maybe [name_m]Macauley[/name_m] – though all sound pretty surnamey. [name_u]Calder[/name_u], [name_m]Calix[/name_m], or [name_m]Callum[/name_m] get my vote.
I think [name_f]Callisto[/name_f] is a really fun possibility. It sounds sort of exotic and debonair, yet easy to wear. And it’s definitely not surname-y!