Kalpana
Feminine name of Sanskrit origin signifying imagination or idea.
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Kalpana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kalpana today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kalpana births was 1971 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kalpana. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kalpana. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1971
8 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
1974 SSA rank
#9,358
Tracked since 1966
Census
Kalpana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,337 people with the first name Kalpana, which placed it at #5,211 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
#5,211
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,337 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kalpana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalpana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Kalpana 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 Kalpana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.0% · 3,270
- White1.0% · 34
- Two or more races0.7% · 23
- Black or African American0.1% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Kalpana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kalpana from the 1960s through to the 1970s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 19 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
Kalpana 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 Kalpana 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 Kalpana
The name Kalpana is of Sanskrit origin and has been in use for centuries in the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "kalpana," which means "idea," "imagination," or "conception." The name is typically associated with creativity, intellect, and artistic expression.
One of the earliest known references to the name Kalpana can be found in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Puranas and the Upanishads. In these texts, Kalpana is often personified as a goddess of creativity and artistic expression.
The name Kalpana gained popularity in India during the medieval period, particularly among the Brahmin community. Several notable individuals from this era bore the name, including Kalpana Devi, a renowned poet and scholar who lived in the 16th century.
In more recent history, Kalpana Chawla (1962-2003) was an Indian-American astronaut and the first woman of Indian descent to go to space. She tragically lost her life during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.
Another prominent figure with the name Kalpana was Kalpana Kartik (1913-2004), an Indian singer and actress who was a pioneer in the field of Indian classical music and dance. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 1992.
Kalpana Dutt (1925-1988) was an Indian activist and politician who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and served as a member of parliament for several terms.
Kalpana Raghavendra (born 1960) is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who has made significant contributions to the field of Bharatanatyam, a major form of Indian classical dance.
It is worth noting that while the name Kalpana has its roots in Sanskrit and Hindu culture, it has been embraced across various communities and religions in India and beyond.
People
Kalpana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kalpana 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
Kalpana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kalpana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kalpana 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Kalpana a common name?
We classify Kalpana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 31 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kalpana most popular?
The single biggest year for Kalpana was 1971, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kalpana is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kalpana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,337 people with the name Kalpana, or 1.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,211 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 Kalpana 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 Kalpana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kalpana appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,335 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Kalpana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalpana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Kalpana most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kalpana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.0% (3,270 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 Kalpana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kalpana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kalpana 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 Kalpana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kalpana 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 Kalpana 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 Kalpana?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.