Kanella
A feminine given name derived from Greek meaning "cinnamon".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Kanella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kanella today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kanella births was 2018 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kanella. 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 Kanella. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2018
6 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2018 SSA rank
#14,691
Tracked since 1959
Census
Kanella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 114 people with the first name Kanella, which placed it at #51,355 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
#51,355
National first-name rank
People counted
114
114 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kanella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kanella is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.5%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Kanella 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 Kanella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino10.5% · 12
- Black or African American4.4% · 5
- Two or more races4.4% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Popularity
Kanella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kanella from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6 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
Kanella 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 Kanella 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 Kanella
The name Kanella originates from the Greek language and can be traced back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "kanella," which means "cinnamon." The name was likely inspired by the aromatic spice, which was highly valued in ancient Greece and used for culinary and medicinal purposes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kanella can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who lived from 460 BC to 370 BC. He mentioned the use of cinnamon in his medical treatises, which may have influenced the popularity of the name Kanella among the Greeks.
In Greek mythology, there are references to a nymph named Kanella, who was said to be the daughter of the river god Peneus. This mythological figure may have contributed to the name's widespread use in ancient Greece.
During the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century, the name Kanella remained popular among the Greek population. One notable figure from this period was Kanella Palaiologina, a Byzantine princess who lived in the 14th century.
In the Renaissance period, the name Kanella gained popularity in Italy, particularly in the region of Venice, where spice trading was a thriving industry. One famous Italian bearer of the name was Kanella Veneziano, a renowned painter from the 16th century, known for her exquisite portraits and frescoes.
In the 17th century, the name Kanella made its way to Russia, where it was adopted by members of the nobility. A prominent figure from this era was Kanella Romanova, a Russian noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to Tsarina Maria Miloslavskaya in the mid-1600s.
The name Kanella has also been recorded in various historical documents and literary works throughout the ages, further solidifying its place in the annals of history.
People
Kanella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kanella 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
Kanella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kanella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kanella 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Kanella a common name?
We classify Kanella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kanella most popular?
The single biggest year for Kanella was 2018, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kanella 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 Kanella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 114 people with the name Kanella, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,355 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 Kanella 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 Kanella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kanella appears almost entirely female. Of the 112 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 Kanella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kanella is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.5%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Kanella most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kanella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (90 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 Kanella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kanella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kanella 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 Kanella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kanella 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 Kanella 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 Kanella?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.