Kaleo
A masculine Hawaiian name meaning "the voice" or "the sound".
Name Census estimates that about 1,962 living Americans carry the first name Kaleo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kaleo today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaleo births was 2024 (194 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaleo. 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 Kaleo with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kaleo 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
2.0K
~ 1 in 174,696 Americans
Peak year
2024
194 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,103
Tracked since 1971
Census
Kaleo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,322 people with the first name Kaleo, which placed it at #10,181 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
#10,181
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,322 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
28.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaleo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaleo is Hispanic at 28.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (28.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (23.1%). 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 Kaleo 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 Kaleo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino28.7% · 380
- Two or more races28.4% · 376
- Asian and Pacific Islander23.1% · 306
- White12.0% · 158
- Black or African American5.2% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 33
Popularity
Kaleo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaleo from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 707 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
Kaleo 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 Kaleo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaleos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Hawaii, Texas recorded the most babies named Kaleo, while Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 76 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaleo
The name Kaleo is of Hawaiian origin, derived from the Hawaiian word "Leo," meaning "voice" or "sound." It is believed to have emerged in the 18th century or earlier when the Hawaiian language was first documented by European explorers and missionaries.
In Hawaiian culture, names often reflect elements of nature, spiritual beliefs, or personal attributes. The name Kaleo is thought to be associated with the concept of oratory, eloquence, or the power of speech. It may have been bestowed upon individuals who were skilled orators, storytellers, or leaders within their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kaleo can be found in the Hawaiian oral traditions and chants, which were passed down through generations. These ancient stories and songs frequently referenced individuals with this name, though precise dates are difficult to determine.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kaleo. One such person was Kaleo Kalani, a Hawaiian chief who lived in the late 18th century and played a significant role in the unification of the Hawaiian Islands under the rule of Kamehameha I.
Another prominent figure was Kaleo Kāne, a respected Hawaiian scholar and historian who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was instrumental in preserving and documenting Hawaiian language, culture, and traditions.
In more recent times, Kaleo Griffith (born 1949) is an American singer-songwriter and musician known for his contributions to the Hawaiian music scene. His album "Kaleo" released in 1976, helped popularize contemporary Hawaiian music.
Kaleo Raleigh (born 1968) is a Hawaiian hula instructor and cultural practitioner who has dedicated his life to perpetuating the traditional hula and chanting practices of Hawaii.
Kaleo Manuhealiʻi (born 1990) is a professional Hawaiian surfer who has competed on the World Surf League's Championship Tour, representing his homeland and promoting Hawaiian culture through his sport.
These individuals, spanning different eras and fields, exemplify the enduring presence of the name Kaleo within Hawaiian culture and its association with the powerful and meaningful concept of voice and expression.
People
Kaleo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaleo 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
Kaleo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaleo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,962 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaleo 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 174,696 US residents.
Is Kaleo a common name?
We classify Kaleo as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,985 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaleo most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaleo was 2024, when 194 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaleo 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 Kaleo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,322 people with the name Kaleo, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,181 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 Kaleo 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 Kaleo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaleo leans strongly male. 1,263 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 58 female bearers (4.4%). 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 Kaleo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaleo is Hispanic at 28.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (28.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (23.1%). 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 Kaleo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Kaleo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 28.7% (380 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 Kaleo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaleo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaleo 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 Kaleo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaleo 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 Kaleo 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 share the name Kaleo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.