Kailei
Of Chinese origin, a feminine name meaning "victorious beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 608 living Americans carry the first name Kailei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kailei today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kailei births was 2004 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kailei. 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
608
~ 1 in 563,741 Americans
Peak year
2004
34 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,715
Tracked since 1988
Census
Kailei in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 502 people with the first name Kailei, which placed it at #20,542 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
#20,542
National first-name rank
People counted
502
502 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kailei
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kailei is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Hispanic (14.1%). 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 Kailei 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 Kailei at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.2% · 242
- Black or African American18.9% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino14.1% · 71
- Two or more races9.8% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.6% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 12
Popularity
Kailei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kailei from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 282 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
Kailei 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 Kailei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaileis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Kailei, while Georgia, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kailei
The given name Kailei is a relatively modern and inventive name, with no definitive historical roots or cultural origins. It appears to be a creative combination of syllables from various languages and sources, rather than being derived from a single language or culture.
The name Kailei can be broken down into two parts: "Kai" and "lei." The prefix "Kai" is a popular name element found in various cultures and languages. In Hawaiian, it means "sea" or "ocean," while in Maori, it signifies "food" or "to eat." Additionally, in Japanese, "Kai" can mean "restoration" or "recovery." However, the connection of the name Kailei to these specific meanings is tenuous at best.
The suffix "lei" is often associated with the Hawaiian tradition of making and wearing flower garlands, also known as "leis." However, there is no direct evidence linking the name Kailei to this cultural practice.
Given the lack of historical references or documented usage, it is challenging to trace the earliest recorded examples of the name Kailei or identify any famous individuals who bore this name throughout history. The name appears to be a contemporary invention, possibly created by combining elements from various languages and cultures to create a unique and melodic name.
While it is difficult to find historical figures who carried the name Kailei, here are five individuals who share similar names:
1. Kaili Vernoff (born 1971), an American television writer and producer known for her work on shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice."
2. Kai Lenny (born 1992), a Hawaiian professional surfer and big-wave rider.
3. Kailash Satyarthi (born 1954), an Indian social reformer and children's rights activist who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
4. Kailyn Lowry (born 1992), an American television personality known for her appearance on the MTV reality series "Teen Mom 2."
5. Kai Winding (1922-1983), an American trombonist and Jazz musician known for his cool jazz recordings in the 1950s and 1960s.
While these individuals share similar names or name elements with Kailei, their names have distinct origins and histories separate from the modern and inventive name Kailei itself.
People
Kailei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kailei 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
Kailei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kailei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 608 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kailei 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 563,741 US residents.
Is Kailei a common name?
We classify Kailei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 617 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kailei most popular?
The single biggest year for Kailei was 2004, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kailei is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kailei in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 502 people with the name Kailei, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,542 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 Kailei 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 Kailei?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kailei leans strongly female. 493 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 11 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Kailei?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kailei is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.9%) and Hispanic (14.1%). 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 Kailei most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kailei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (242 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 Kailei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kailei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kailei 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 Kailei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kailei 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 Kailei 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 Kailei?
See how many people have the name Kailei on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.