Kalista
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "most beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 2,344 living Americans carry the first name Kalista. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kalista today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kalista births was 1999 (182 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kalista. 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 Kalista with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 146,226 Americans
Peak year
1999
182 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,773
Tracked since 1976
Census
Kalista in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,988 people with the first name Kalista, which placed it at #7,612 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
#7,612
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,988 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kalista
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalista is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.1%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). 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 Kalista 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 Kalista at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.8% · 1,249
- Hispanic or Latino17.1% · 339
- Two or more races9.0% · 178
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 106
- Black or African American4.1% · 82
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 34
Popularity
Kalista: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kalista from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,107 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kalista 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 Kalista during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kalistas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kalista, while Oklahoma, Nevada, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kalista
The name Kalista is a modern invented name, believed to be derived from the Greek word "kallistos," meaning "most beautiful" or "fairest." It gained popularity in the late 20th century, likely inspired by the aesthetic appeal of its sound and meaning.
While the name Kalista itself does not have a long historical lineage, it draws inspiration from the rich heritage of Greek mythology and language. The Greek word "kallistos" is closely related to the name Callisto, a nymph in Greek mythology who was transformed into a bear by the goddess Artemis.
Historically, there are no recorded instances of the name Kalista being used in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. However, its similarity to names like Calista and Kallista, which share the same Greek roots, suggests a connection to the concept of beauty and aesthetic appeal.
The earliest documented use of the name Kalista is relatively recent, with records indicating its appearance in the late 20th century. One of the earliest notable individuals with this name is Kalista Diamantopoulos, a Greek writer and journalist born in 1960.
Other individuals who have borne the name Kalista include:
1. Kalista Zackhariyas, an Indian actress born in 1982, known for her work in Malayalam cinema.
2. Kalista Safford, an American actress and model born in 1976, best known for her roles in television shows like "Married... with Children" and "The Parkers."
3. Kalista Tazlin, an American singer and songwriter born in 1986, known for her work in the pop and R&B genres.
4. Kalista Kavalieros, a Greek-American artist and illustrator born in 1978, known for her whimsical and imaginative artworks.
5. Kalista Griffiths-Mabry, an American basketball player born in 1992, who played for the University of Missouri and in professional leagues.
While the name Kalista is a relatively modern creation, its Greek roots and association with beauty and aesthetic appeal have contributed to its increasing popularity in recent decades, particularly in Western countries.
People
Kalista + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kalista 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
Kalista: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kalista?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,344 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kalista 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 146,226 US residents.
Is Kalista a common name?
We classify Kalista as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,384 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kalista most popular?
The single biggest year for Kalista was 1999, when 182 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kalista is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kalista in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,988 people with the name Kalista, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,612 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 Kalista 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 Kalista?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kalista appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,987 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Kalista?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalista is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.1%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). 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 Kalista most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kalista in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.8% (1,249 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 Kalista in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kalista a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kalista 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 Kalista still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kalista 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 Kalista 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 named Kalista?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Kalista at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.