Kahliyah
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially an Arabic variation of "Khalilah" meaning "beloved friend".
Name Census estimates that about 227 living Americans carry the first name Kahliyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kahliyah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kahliyah births was 2014 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kahliyah. 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
227
~ 1 in 1,509,931 Americans
Peak year
2014
14 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,141
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Kahliyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kahliyah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 97 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kahliyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kahliyah 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 Kahliyah 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 Kahliyah
The name Kahliyah is of Arabic origin and is derived from the word "khali," which means "aunt" or "paternal aunt" in Arabic. The name is believed to have originated in the Middle East, specifically in regions where Arabic is spoken, such as the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, and parts of the Levant.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kahliyah dates back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age. It is possible that the name was used earlier than this, but written records from that era are scarce. Kahliyah was a relatively common name among Arab women during this period, as it was considered a respectable and honorable name to have.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Kahliyah was Kahliyah bint Abi Bakr, who lived in the 7th century CE. She was the daughter of Abu Bakr, one of the closest companions of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. Kahliyah bint Abi Bakr was known for her piety and devotion to Islam.
Another notable bearer of the name Kahliyah was Kahliyah al-Nabulsi, a Syrian scholar and poet who lived in the 17th century CE. She was renowned for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to Arabic literature. Her poetry and writings have been preserved and studied by scholars over the centuries.
In the 19th century, Kahliyah al-Jaziri was a prominent female scholar and teacher from Iraq. She was known for her expertise in various Islamic sciences, including hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Kahliyah al-Jaziri taught numerous students and played a significant role in the intellectual and religious life of her time.
Another notable figure named Kahliyah was Kahliyah al-Muqaddasi, a 10th-century Arab geographer and traveler. She is best known for her work "Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim" (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions), which provided detailed descriptions of the regions she visited during her travels across the Islamic world.
Kahliyah al-Baghdadi was a 12th-century Arab mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad. She made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy, and her works were widely studied and referenced by scholars of her time and in subsequent centuries.
While the name Kahliyah has deep historical roots and has been borne by notable figures throughout the centuries, it is important to note that this report focuses solely on the history and origin of the first name and does not include information on its use as a surname or its modern prevalence.
People
Kahliyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kahliyah 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
Kahliyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kahliyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 227 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kahliyah 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 1,509,931 US residents.
Is Kahliyah a common name?
We classify Kahliyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kahliyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Kahliyah was 2014, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kahliyah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kahliyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kahliyah 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.
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.