Kalaya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "blossoming" or "blooming".
Name Census estimates that about 1,432 living Americans carry the first name Kalaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kalaya today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kalaya births was 2020 (87 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kalaya. 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 Kalaya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kalaya is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 239,354 Americans
Peak year
2020
87 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,199
Tracked since 1987
Census
Kalaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 936 people with the first name Kalaya, which placed it at #13,053 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
#13,053
National first-name rank
People counted
936
936 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kalaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalaya is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (16.3%) and White (15.8%). 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 Kalaya 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 Kalaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.8% · 429
- Two or more races16.3% · 153
- White15.8% · 148
- Hispanic or Latino12.0% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.1% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 18
Popularity
Kalaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kalaya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 570 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kalaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kalaya 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 Kalaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kalayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kalaya, while Wisconsin, New York, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kalaya
The name Kalaya has its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest classical languages of the Indian subcontinent, dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "kalā," which means "art," "skill," or "branch." The name Kalaya can be interpreted as "the skillful one" or "the artistic one."
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, the concept of "kalā" is often associated with the divine creative force and the manifestation of the universe. It is seen as a representation of the intricate balance and harmony that exists in nature and the arts.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Kalaya can be found in the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In the text, Kalaya is mentioned as the name of a sage or a rishi, indicating the historical and cultural significance of the name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kalaya. One such person was Kalaya Malla (c. 1163–1216 CE), a Nepalese king from the Malla dynasty who ruled over the Kathmandu Valley. He was known for his patronage of art and architecture, and his reign saw the construction of many notable temples and monuments in the region.
Another notable figure was Kalaya Sundaram Pillai (1842–1907), an Indian lawyer, writer, and social reformer from the state of Tamil Nadu. He played a significant role in promoting education and advocating for the rights of women and the underprivileged.
In the realm of literature, Kalaya Krishnamurthy (1899–1954) was a renowned Indian playwright and novelist who wrote in the Tamil language. His works often explored social issues and the human condition, earning him recognition as one of the pioneers of modern Tamil literature.
The name Kalaya was also borne by Kalaya Tshering (1926–2015), a Bhutanese politician and diplomat who served as the country's first Prime Minister from 1972 to 1987. He played a crucial role in Bhutan's development and modernization during his tenure.
Lastly, Kalaya Ranasinghe (1930–2019) was a Sri Lankan artist and sculptor known for his contemporary interpretations of traditional Buddhist and Hindu themes. His works have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums around the world, showcasing the artistic and cultural richness associated with the name Kalaya.
People
Kalaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kalaya 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
Kalaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kalaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,432 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kalaya 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 239,354 US residents.
Is Kalaya a common name?
We classify Kalaya as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,447 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kalaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Kalaya was 2020, when 87 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kalaya is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kalaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 936 people with the name Kalaya, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,053 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 Kalaya 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 Kalaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kalaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 934 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kalaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalaya is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (16.3%) and White (15.8%). 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 Kalaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kalaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.8% (429 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 Kalaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kalaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kalaya 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 Kalaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kalaya 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 Kalaya 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 Kalaya?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Kalaya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.