Kaliope
Feminine name derived from the Greek word "kallios" meaning beautiful voice.
Name Census estimates that about 201 living Americans carry the first name Kaliope. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaliope today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaliope births was 2022 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaliope. 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
201
~ 1 in 1,705,245 Americans
Peak year
2022
20 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,023
Tracked since 1921
Census
Kaliope in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 266 people with the first name Kaliope, which placed it at #31,950 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
#31,950
National first-name rank
People counted
266
266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaliope
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaliope is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.9%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Kaliope 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 Kaliope at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.3% · 219
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 29
- Two or more races3.8% · 10
- Black or African American1.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 4
Popularity
Kaliope: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaliope from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 94 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
Kaliope 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 Kaliope during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaliope
The given name Kaliope has its origins in Ancient Greek mythology. It is the Greek spelling of the name Calliope, one of the nine Muses in Greek mythology. Calliope was the superior Muse, presiding over eloquence and epic poetry.
The name Kaliope derives from the Greek words "kallos" meaning beauty, and "ops" meaning voice. Together, the name Kaliope translates to "beautiful voice" or "the one with the beautiful voice." This reflects the role of Calliope as the Muse of epic poetry and eloquent storytelling.
Kaliope was a prominent name in ancient Greek literature and texts. The earliest known reference to the name can be found in Hesiod's Theogony, an 8th century BC Greek poem about the origins of the gods. Calliope is described as the chief of the Muses, and the most prominent daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Kaliope. One of the earliest recorded was Kaliope of Syracuse, a Greek woman from the 5th century BC who was renowned for her beauty and intelligence. In the 3rd century BC, there was a Greek poet named Kaliope who wrote numerous works, though few of her writings have survived to modern times.
During the Renaissance period, Kaliope became a popular name among artists and intellectuals who drew inspiration from classical Greek culture. Kaliope Tzane was a 16th century Greek poet and philosopher who wrote extensively on the arts and humanities. Kaliope Androutsou (1888-1981) was a 20th century Greek painter and sculptor known for her depictions of mythological scenes and figures.
Another notable Kaliope was the 19th century American poet and writer Kaliope Willis (1808-1889). She was part of the literary circle in Boston and published several collections of poetry and novels inspired by Greek mythology and themes.
While not as common as its spelling variation Calliope, the name Kaliope has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly in areas with strong Greek cultural influences. Its connection to the Muse of epic poetry and eloquence has made it a fitting name for artists, writers, and intellectuals over the centuries.
People
Kaliope + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaliope 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
Kaliope: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaliope?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 201 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaliope 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 1,705,245 US residents.
Is Kaliope a common name?
We classify Kaliope as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 226 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaliope most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaliope was 2022, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaliope 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 Kaliope in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 266 people with the name Kaliope, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,950 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 Kaliope 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 Kaliope?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaliope appears almost entirely female. Of the 258 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Kaliope?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaliope is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.9%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Kaliope most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaliope in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (219 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 Kaliope in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaliope a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaliope 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 Kaliope still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaliope 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 Kaliope 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 Kaliope?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Kaliope, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.