Kaelei
A feminine Hawaiian name meaning "the flight of heavenly rays".
Name Census estimates that about 104 living Americans carry the first name Kaelei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaelei today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaelei births was 2005 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaelei. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
104
~ 1 in 3,295,715 Americans
Peak year
2005
16 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2019 SSA rank
#16,682
Tracked since 1995
Census
Kaelei in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 115 people with the first name Kaelei, which placed it at #51,185 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#51,185
National first-name rank
People counted
115
115 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaelei
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaelei is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Two or More Races (13.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kaelei described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kaelei at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.6% · 72
- Black or African American13.0% · 15
- Two or more races13.0% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Popularity
Kaelei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaelei from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 85 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaelei by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kaelei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaelei
The name Kaelei is believed to have originated from the Hawaiian language, where it is a variation of the name Kaili or Ka'ili. This name is derived from the Hawaiian words "ka," meaning "the," and "ili," which refers to the skin or surface of the body. The combination of these words suggests a meaning along the lines of "the skin" or "the surface."
In Hawaiian culture, names often carried deeper symbolic meanings or connections to nature and the physical world. The name Kaelei may have been given to individuals with a connection to the land, the ocean, or the natural environment. It could also have been used to describe someone with a particular physical appearance or complexion.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kaelei are found in Hawaiian genealogical records and historical documents from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. During this period, the Hawaiian Islands were undergoing significant cultural and political changes, including the unification of the islands under the rule of King Kamehameha I.
One notable figure in Hawaiian history who bore the name Kaelei was Kaelei Kauikeaouli, a high-ranking chief and advisor to King Kamehameha III in the mid-19th century. Kauikeaouli played a crucial role in the early years of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the establishment of the Hawaiian constitutional monarchy.
Another individual of historical significance with the name Kaelei was Kaelei Kaahumanu, a powerful regent and co-ruler of the Hawaiian Islands in the early 19th century. Kaahumanu was instrumental in the abolition of the ancient Hawaiian religious practices and the adoption of Christianity in the islands.
In ancient Hawaiian literature and oral traditions, there are references to several legendary figures with the name Kaelei, although the details and specific stories associated with these individuals have been lost over time.
Outside of Hawaii, the name Kaelei has also been used, although less commonly, in other Polynesian cultures and island nations. For example, there are records of individuals named Kaelei in the Cook Islands and Samoa, likely derived from the same Hawaiian roots.
It is important to note that while the name Kaelei has historical significance and cultural roots in Hawaiian and Polynesian traditions, it has also been adopted and adapted by various cultures and communities around the world, occasionally with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation.
People
Kaelei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaelei as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kaelei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaelei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaelei going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,295,715 US residents.
Is Kaelei a common name?
We classify Kaelei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaelei most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaelei was 2005, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaelei is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaelei in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 115 people with the name Kaelei, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,185 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kaelei in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kaelei?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaelei appears almost entirely female. Of the 109 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kaelei?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaelei is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Black (13.0%) and Two or More Races (13.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kaelei most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaelei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.6% (72 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kaelei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaelei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaelei in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kaelei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaelei in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kaelei can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Kaelei?
You can see how many people have the name Kaelei on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.