Kalkidan
An Ethiopian feminine name meaning "covenant" or "promise".
Name Census estimates that about 161 living Americans carry the first name Kalkidan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kalkidan today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kalkidan births was 2015 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kalkidan. 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 Kalkidan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
161
~ 1 in 2,128,909 Americans
Peak year
2015
13 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,772
Tracked since 1996
Census
Kalkidan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 619 people with the first name Kalkidan, which placed it at #17,674 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
#17,674
National first-name rank
People counted
619
619 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kalkidan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalkidan is Black at 96.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). 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 Kalkidan 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 Kalkidan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.9% · 600
- White1.1% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 5
- Two or more races0.6% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 3
Popularity
Kalkidan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kalkidan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 78 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kalkidan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kalkidan 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 Kalkidan 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 Kalkidan
Kalkidan is a name of Amharic origin, the official language of Ethiopia. It traces its roots back to the ancient Semitic languages spoken in the Horn of Africa region, particularly Ge'ez, an ancient Semitic language that was the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The name Kalkidan is derived from the Ge'ez word "Kalki," meaning "covenant" or "promise," and the suffix "-dan," which is a common ending in Amharic names. Therefore, Kalkidan loosely translates to "the promised one" or "the one of the covenant." This name carries a significant religious and cultural connotation in Ethiopia.
Historically, the name Kalkidan has been associated with prominent figures in Ethiopia's rich history. One notable example is Kalkidan Gezahegne, an Ethiopian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1993. She played a crucial role in the transition period following the fall of the Derg regime.
Another notable figure with the name Kalkidan is Kalkidan Mussie, an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competed in the 2012 London Olympics. She was born in 1987 and specialized in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters events, winning numerous national and international competitions.
In the realm of literature, Kalkidan Mulat is a celebrated Ethiopian author and poet. Born in 1986, she has published several collections of poetry and short stories, exploring themes of identity, culture, and the complexities of modern Ethiopian society.
The name Kalkidan has also gained recognition in the field of education. Kalkidan Abebe, born in 1975, is a prominent educator and advocate for girl's education in Ethiopia. She has been recognized for her efforts in promoting access to quality education for underprivileged communities.
Lastly, Kalkidan Gebreyohannes, born in 1980, is an accomplished Ethiopian business leader and entrepreneur. She has been instrumental in promoting sustainable economic development and empowering women in the workforce through her various business ventures.
These examples illustrate the diverse areas in which individuals bearing the name Kalkidan have made significant contributions, reflecting the rich cultural heritage and significance of this Amharic name.
People
Kalkidan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kalkidan 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
Kalkidan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kalkidan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 161 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kalkidan 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 2,128,909 US residents.
Is Kalkidan a common name?
We classify Kalkidan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 163 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kalkidan most popular?
The single biggest year for Kalkidan was 2015, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kalkidan is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kalkidan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 619 people with the name Kalkidan, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,674 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 Kalkidan 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 Kalkidan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kalkidan leans strongly female. 572 people counted with this name were female (92.9%), compared with 44 male bearers (7.1%). 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 Kalkidan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalkidan is Black at 96.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). 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 Kalkidan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kalkidan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.9% (600 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 Kalkidan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kalkidan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kalkidan 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 Kalkidan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kalkidan 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 Kalkidan 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 Americans are named Kalkidan?
You can see how many people share the name Kalkidan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.