Frequency: (191)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Dutch and North German: from kal(e)fat ‘oakum’, ‘tow’, ‘calk’ (loose fibers of rope used to caulk a ship's seams and make her watertight), hence a metonymic occupational name for a calker, someone who specialized in making ships watertight. The word is ultimately from Arabic qalafa; it is also found in 17th-century English in various spellings, mainly calf(r)et.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
