Kalai
An Indian feminine name meaning art, skill, or knowledge.
Name Census estimates that about 291 living Americans carry the first name Kalai. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Kalai today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kalai births was 2020 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kalai. 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
291
~ 1 in 1,177,850 Americans
Peak year
2020
22 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,628
Tracked since 1991
Census
Kalai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 451 people with the first name Kalai, which placed it at #22,181 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
#22,181
National first-name rank
People counted
451
451 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
43.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kalai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalai is Asian/Pacific Islander at 43.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (22.8%) and Hispanic (13.5%). 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 Kalai 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 Kalai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander43.7% · 197
- Two or more races22.8% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino13.5% · 61
- White10.2% · 46
- Black or African American8.6% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Kalai
Kalai is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 294 total registrations, 227 (77.2%) were male and 67 (22.8%) were female.
Kalai as a male name
- Ranked #8,628 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (14 births)
Kalai as a female name
- Ranked #11,687 in 2022
- 8 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2019 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kalai on both sides of the split. Of the 450 people counted with this name, 228 were male (50.7%) and 222 were female (49.3%).
Popularity
Kalai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kalai from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 118 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kalai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kalai 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 Kalai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kalais live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kalai
The name Kalai is of Tamil origin, stemming from the ancient Dravidian language family of southern India. The word "kalai" in Tamil means "arts" or "crafts," and it is believed that the name was initially given to individuals who excelled in various artistic pursuits, such as painting, sculpture, or dance.
In ancient Tamil literature, particularly in the Sangam period (c. 300 BCE to 300 CE), the term "kalai" was frequently used to refer to the fine arts and the skilled artisans who practiced them. The name Kalai was likely bestowed upon children as a way to honor and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the Tamil people and their mastery of various art forms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kalai can be found in the Silappadikaram, a renowned Tamil epic from the 5th century CE. In this ancient text, the character Kalai is described as a talented and accomplished dancer, renowned for her graceful movements and artistic expression.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kalai. One such figure was Kalai Arasan, a 16th-century Tamil king and patron of the arts, who ruled over the Thanjavur region of Tamil Nadu. His reign was marked by a flourishing of artistic and cultural achievements, and he is credited with commissioning numerous architectural marvels, including the famous Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur.
Another prominent figure was Kalai Kaviri, a celebrated Tamil poetess and scholar who lived during the 17th century. She was renowned for her poetic works, which explored themes of love, nature, and spirituality, and her contributions to Tamil literature have been widely acknowledged and studied.
In the realm of dance, Kalai Selvam, a 20th-century Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer, gained widespread acclaim for her innovative and captivating performances. She was known for her unique interpretations of traditional dance forms and her efforts to preserve and promote the rich heritage of Indian classical dance.
Kalai Arasu, a contemporary Tamil film director and screenwriter, has also made a significant impact in the world of cinema. His thought-provoking and socially conscious films have garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards, cementing his reputation as a pioneering voice in Tamil cinema.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Kalai, each making their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of Tamil culture and artistic expression.
People
Kalai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kalai 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
Kalai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kalai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 291 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kalai 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 1,177,850 US residents.
Is Kalai a common name?
We classify Kalai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 294 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kalai most popular?
The single biggest year for Kalai was 2020, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kalai is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kalai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 451 people with the name Kalai, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,181 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 Kalai 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 Kalai?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kalai on both sides of the split. Of the 450 people counted with this name, 228 were male (50.7%) and 222 were female (49.3%). 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 Kalai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalai is Asian/Pacific Islander at 43.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (22.8%) and Hispanic (13.5%). 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 Kalai most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kalai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.7% (197 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 Kalai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kalai a male name?
Yes, 77.2% of people registered as Kalai 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 Kalai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kalai 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 Kalai 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 are called Kalai?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.