Kala
An Indian feminine name derived from "kala" meaning black or dark complexion.
Name Census estimates that about 7,334 living Americans carry the first name Kala. It is a predominantly female name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Kala today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kala births was 1989 (533 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kala. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kala with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kala is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 92 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
7.3K
~ 1 in 46,735 Americans
Peak year
1989
533 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2010 SSA rank
#8,660
Tracked since 1943
Census
Kala in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,545 people with the first name Kala, which placed it at #2,978 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
#2,978
National first-name rank
People counted
7.5K
7,545 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kala
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kala is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). 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 Kala 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 Kala at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.2% · 4,690
- Black or African American17.3% · 1,303
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.5% · 643
- Two or more races5.6% · 422
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 420
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 67
Gender
Gender distribution for Kala
Kala leans heavily female at 98.8% of total registrations, but 92 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kala as a male name
- Ranked #11,463 in 2010
- 6 male births in 2010
- Peak: 1976 (9 births)
Kala as a female name
- Ranked #8,660 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (525 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kala leans strongly female. 7,296 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 253 male bearers (3.4%).
Popularity
Kala: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kala from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,996 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kala 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 Kala during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kalas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Kala, while South Dakota, Nevada, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 139 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kala
The name Kala has its origins in several ancient languages and cultures. In Sanskrit, a classical language of the Indian subcontinent, Kala means "time" or "death". It is also associated with the Hindu deity Shiva, who is sometimes referred to as Kala or Kalabhairava, signifying his destructive aspect as the lord of time and death.
In the Ramayana, one of the major Sanskrit epics, Kala is mentioned as a demon who was defeated by the hero Rama. Additionally, in Buddhist texts from ancient India, Kala is personified as the lord of death, akin to the concept of the Grim Reaper in Western cultures.
The name Kala also has roots in the ancient Greek language, where it means "beautiful". This Greek origin is reflected in the name's use in various parts of the Mediterranean region and Europe throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kala is from ancient Egypt, where it was a feminine name meaning "the black one" or "the dark one". This Egyptian variant of the name was likely influenced by the Greek meaning of "beautiful", as ancient Egyptians often associated darkness with beauty and fertility.
Some notable historical figures with the name Kala include:
1. Kala Naag, a legendary serpent king in Hindu mythology, believed to have lived during the Treta Yuga.
2. Kala Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva, revered in Tantric traditions of Hinduism.
3. Kala Azar, an ancient Indian king mentioned in the Mahabharata, one of the longest epic poems in the world.
4. Kala Samudra, a legendary ocean mentioned in Hindu scriptures, believed to be a metaphor for the cycle of time and rebirth.
5. Kala-Sarpa, a mythical serpent in Hindu and Buddhist traditions, representing the cycle of time and the endless struggle between good and evil.
While the name Kala has different meanings and origins across various cultures, it is undoubtedly a name with deep historical and mythological significance, particularly in the Indian subcontinent and the Mediterranean region.
People
Kala + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kala 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
Kala: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kala?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,334 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kala 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 46,735 US residents.
Is Kala a common name?
We classify Kala as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,762 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kala most popular?
The single biggest year for Kala was 1989, when 533 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kala is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kala in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,545 people with the name Kala, or 2.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,978 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 Kala 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 Kala?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kala leans strongly female. 7,296 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 253 male bearers (3.4%). 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 Kala?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kala is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). 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 Kala most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kala in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.2% (4,690 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 Kala in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kala a female name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Kala 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 Kala still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kala 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 Kala 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 many people have the name Kala?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Kala, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.