Kaivalya
An Indian masculine name meaning state of absolute freedom or liberation.
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Kaivalya. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kaivalya today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaivalya births was 2019 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaivalya. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kaivalya. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2019
5 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,069
Tracked since 2019
Popularity
Kaivalya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaivalya from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaivalya 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 Kaivalya 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 Kaivalya
The name Kaivalya is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages spoken in ancient India. The word "kaivalya" itself means "isolation" or "detachment" and is derived from the root word "kevala," which means "whole" or "complete."
In Hinduism, Kaivalya is a concept that refers to the state of spiritual liberation or moksha, where the individual soul (Atman) attains complete freedom from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (Samsara). It signifies the ultimate goal of yoga and meditation practices, where the individual realizes their true nature as pure consciousness, separate from the material world.
The name Kaivalya is mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, including the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is considered one of the foundational texts on the philosophy and practice of yoga. In the Yoga Sutras, Kaivalya is described as the final stage of spiritual evolution, where the individual attains complete mastery over the mind and becomes one with the universal consciousness.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kaivalya can be found in the epic Sanskrit poem Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE. In the Mahabharata, Kaivalya is mentioned as a state of being beyond the material world, where the individual achieves spiritual enlightenment.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who have borne the name Kaivalya or variations of it. One such figure is Kaivalyananda, a renowned Indian yogi and spiritual teacher who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was known for his teachings on Raja Yoga and his efforts to promote the spiritual and cultural heritage of India.
Another famous bearer of the name was Kaivalya Navanita, a 16th-century Indian philosopher and poet from the Vijayanagara Empire. He was a prominent figure in the Dvaita Vedanta tradition and authored several works on Hindu philosophy and devotional poetry.
In more recent times, Kaivalya has been used as a name for both men and women, particularly in spiritual and yoga communities. One notable figure was Kaivalya Upanishad, an Indian yogi and spiritual teacher who lived in the 20th century and was known for his teachings on Raja Yoga and the Upanishads.
Another individual with the name Kaivalya was Kaivalya Devi, a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer who lived in the 20th century. She was widely acclaimed for her contributions to the revival and promotion of the Odissi dance form in India.
While not an exhaustive list, these examples demonstrate the historical and cultural significance of the name Kaivalya, particularly in the context of Hindu spirituality, philosophy, and the arts.
People
Kaivalya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaivalya 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
Kaivalya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaivalya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaivalya 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Kaivalya a common name?
We classify Kaivalya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaivalya most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaivalya was 2019, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaivalya is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Kaivalya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaivalya a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaivalya in the SSA data are male. 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 Kaivalya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaivalya 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 Kaivalya 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Kaivalya?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.