Kally
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "kallos" meaning beauty.
Name Census estimates that about 1,324 living Americans carry the first name Kally. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kally today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kally births was 2007 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kally. 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 Kally with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 258,878 Americans
Peak year
2007
46 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,558
Tracked since 1956
Census
Kally in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,401 people with the first name Kally, which placed it at #9,779 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
#9,779
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,401 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kally
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kally is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Kally 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 Kally at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.2% · 983
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 203
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 101
- Black or African American3.8% · 53
- Two or more races3.4% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Kally
Out of the 1,387 babies given the name Kally since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kally as a male name
- Ranked #8,558 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (5 births)
Kally as a female name
- Ranked #14,265 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (46 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kally leans strongly female. 1,360 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 43 male bearers (3.1%).
Popularity
Kally: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kally from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 356 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
Kally 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 Kally during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kallys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Kally, while Michigan, Minnesota, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kally
The name Kally is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Kalya," which means "beautiful" or "auspicious." This name was likely used in ancient Indian societies as a way to express the desire for a child's beauty and prosperity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kally can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, which was composed between the 8th and 9th centuries BCE. In this epic, there is a character named Kali, which is a variation of the name Kally. Kali is depicted as the goddess of time, change, and destruction, and is considered one of the most powerful deities in Hindu mythology.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kally. One of the earliest known was Kally Pragji Dube (1856-1923), an Indian social reformer and educator who founded the Arya Mahila Samaj, an organization dedicated to promoting women's education and empowerment in India.
Another prominent figure was Kally Dasgupta (1910-1990), a Bengali writer and poet who made significant contributions to the literary world of West Bengal. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
In the field of music, Kally Mavrokordatou (1928-2008) was a renowned Greek singer and actress who was celebrated for her powerful vocals and captivating stage presence. She performed extensively throughout Greece and Europe, and her music was deeply rooted in the traditional Greek folk music tradition.
Moving to the realm of sports, Kally Koutsoukou (born 1980) is a Greek long-distance runner who has represented her country in numerous international competitions, including the Olympic Games and World Championships. She holds several national records in various long-distance events.
Lastly, Kally Zervudaki (born 1986) is a contemporary Greek fashion designer who has gained recognition for her innovative and sustainable approach to fashion. Her designs have been featured in various international fashion shows and publications, showcasing the versatility and timelessness of the name Kally.
People
Kally + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kally 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
Kally: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kally?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,324 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kally 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 258,878 US residents.
Is Kally a common name?
We classify Kally as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,387 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kally most popular?
The single biggest year for Kally was 2007, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kally is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kally in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,401 people with the name Kally, or 0.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,779 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 Kally 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 Kally?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kally leans strongly female. 1,360 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 43 male bearers (3.1%). 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 Kally?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kally is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Kally most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kally in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.2% (983 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 Kally in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kally a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Kally 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 Kally still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kally 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 Kally 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 Kally?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Kally, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.