Kahli
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from Hindi meaning "possessed of dark beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 570 living Americans carry the first name Kahli. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 79.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Kahli today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kahli births was 2015 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kahli. 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
570
~ 1 in 601,323 Americans
Peak year
2015
31 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,708
Tracked since 1984
Census
Kahli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 510 people with the first name Kahli, which placed it at #20,297 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
#20,297
National first-name rank
People counted
510
510 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kahli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kahli is White at 43.7%. The next largest groups are Black (36.3%) and Hispanic (9.8%). 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 Kahli 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 Kahli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.7% · 223
- Black or African American36.3% · 185
- Hispanic or Latino9.8% · 50
- Two or more races7.8% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Kahli
Kahli is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 579 total registrations, 117 (20.2%) were male and 462 (79.8%) were female.
Kahli as a male name
- Ranked #13,161 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2009 (9 births)
Kahli as a female name
- Ranked #12,708 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kahli on both sides of the split. Of the 517 people counted with this name, 134 were male (25.9%) and 383 were female (74.1%).
Popularity
Kahli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kahli from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 218 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kahli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kahli 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 Kahli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kahlis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kahli
The name Kahli originates from the Sanskrit language and has its roots in ancient India. It is derived from the word "kali," which means "black" or "dark." The name was initially associated with the Hindu goddess Kali, who is often depicted as a powerful and fierce deity with a dark complexion.
In Hindu mythology, Kali is revered as the goddess of time, change, and destruction. She is often portrayed as a fierce warrior, wielding a sword and standing over the slain body of her husband, the god Shiva. The name Kahli was likely given to children born during auspicious times or to honor the goddess's strength and power.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kahli can be traced back to ancient Sanskrit texts and inscriptions dating back to the 6th century BCE. One notable mention of the name is found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics, where it is used as a name for a character.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Kahli. One of the earliest was Kahli, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 5th century CE. He made significant contributions to the fields of algebra and trigonometry and is credited with developing the concept of zero as a numerical value.
Another prominent figure was Kahli Khan, a powerful ruler of the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century CE. He was known for his military prowess and successful campaigns against neighboring kingdoms, expanding the reach of the Sultanate during his reign.
In the realm of literature, Kahli Dass was a celebrated Punjabi poet who lived in the 16th century CE. His works, which explored themes of love, devotion, and spirituality, are considered classics of Punjabi literature and have had a lasting influence on the region's cultural heritage.
The name Kahli also found its way into the world of art and music. Kahli Ghosh, a renowned Indian classical musician and composer from the 18th century CE, is credited with developing the Thumri style of Hindustani classical music, which blends elements of folk and classical traditions.
Finally, Kahli Biswas was a prominent Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She played a significant role in the Indian independence movement and worked tirelessly to promote women's education and uplift underprivileged communities.
People
Kahli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kahli 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
Kahli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kahli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 570 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kahli 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 601,323 US residents.
Is Kahli a common name?
We classify Kahli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 579 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kahli most popular?
The single biggest year for Kahli was 2015, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kahli is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kahli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 510 people with the name Kahli, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,297 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 Kahli 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 Kahli?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kahli on both sides of the split. Of the 517 people counted with this name, 134 were male (25.9%) and 383 were female (74.1%). 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 Kahli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kahli is White at 43.7%. The next largest groups are Black (36.3%) and Hispanic (9.8%). 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 Kahli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kahli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.7% (223 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 Kahli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kahli a female name?
Yes, 79.8% of people registered as Kahli 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 Kahli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kahli 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 Kahli 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 common is the name Kahli?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Kahli at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.