Kaiyah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "beautiful, sublime".
Name Census estimates that about 1,186 living Americans carry the first name Kaiyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaiyah today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaiyah births was 2015 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaiyah. 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
- • Kaiyah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 289,000 Americans
Peak year
2015
71 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,612
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Kaiyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaiyah 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 581 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kaiyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaiyah 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 Kaiyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaiyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kaiyah, while South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaiyah
The name Kaiyah is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "qawiyah," meaning "strong" or "powerful." This name has been in use since ancient times, particularly in regions with strong Islamic cultural influences.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kaiyah can be traced back to the 8th century CE, when a renowned female scholar and poet, Kaiyah bint al-Walid, lived in Basra, Iraq. She was highly regarded for her expertise in literature and Arabic grammar, and her works have been preserved in various historical texts.
In the 11th century CE, a prominent figure named Kaiyah al-Andalusi made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and astronomy. Born in Cordoba, Spain, she was part of the Golden Age of Islamic culture and played a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge during that era.
Moving forward in time, the name Kaiyah gained popularity in the Ottoman Empire, where it was associated with strength and resilience. One notable individual was Kaiyah Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Mehmed IV, who lived in the 17th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and architecture.
Another historical figure bearing the name Kaiyah was Kaiyah bint Ibrahim, a 19th-century scholar and poet from the Arabian Peninsula. She gained recognition for her influential works on Islamic theology and her advocacy for women's education.
In more recent times, Kaiyah Tahir, born in 1935 in Pakistan, made significant contributions to the field of literature and was awarded the prestigious Pride of Performance award by the Pakistani government for her literary achievements.
While the name Kaiyah has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and is now used by families across various regions and ethnicities, each bringing their own unique cultural interpretations and associations to the name.
People
Kaiyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaiyah 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
Kaiyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaiyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,186 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaiyah 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 289,000 US residents.
Is Kaiyah a common name?
We classify Kaiyah as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,197 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaiyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaiyah was 2015, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaiyah is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kaiyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaiyah 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.