Kanesha
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Kanika meaning "flower" in Sanskrit.
Name Census estimates that about 1,675 living Americans carry the first name Kanesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kanesha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kanesha births was 1990 (198 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kanesha. 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.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 204,629 Americans
Peak year
1990
198 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2012 SSA rank
#14,216
Tracked since 1972
Census
Kanesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,473 people with the first name Kanesha, which placed it at #9,421 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
#9,421
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,473 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kanesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kanesha is Black at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Kanesha 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 Kanesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.6% · 1,320
- White3.7% · 55
- Two or more races3.7% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 3
Popularity
Kanesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kanesha from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 953 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kanesha 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 Kanesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaneshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, Georgia recorded the most babies named Kanesha, while Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kanesha
The name Kanesha has its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India. It is derived from the word "Kanishtha," which means "the youngest" or "the smallest." This name was initially given to the youngest child in a family, particularly the youngest daughter.
In Hindu mythology, Kanesha is also the name of a minor goddess associated with fertility and childbirth. She is often depicted as a beautiful young woman carrying a newborn child, symbolizing the blessings of motherhood.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kanesha can be found in ancient Sanskrit texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE. These texts mention the name in reference to both mythological figures and real individuals.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Kanesha was a princess from the Gupta Empire, which ruled over parts of modern-day India and Pakistan between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. Princess Kanesha was renowned for her beauty and intelligence, and her name was celebrated in court poetry and literature of the time.
During the medieval period, the name Kanesha became popular among the Hindu communities of South Asia. Notable individuals with this name include Kanesha Devi, a 12th-century queen of the Chahamana dynasty, who was known for her patronage of the arts and architecture.
In the 16th century, Kanesha Rani was a powerful female ruler of the Rajput kingdom of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan, India. She is remembered for her bravery and leadership during the siege of Chittorgarh Fort by the Mughal forces.
Another significant figure with the name Kanesha was a 17th-century Indian poet and scholar from the region of Bengal. Kanesha Thakur was renowned for her beautiful and evocative poetry, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
In more recent times, the name Kanesha has been used across various cultures and communities, though its origins can be traced back to the ancient Sanskrit language and Hindu traditions of India.
People
Kanesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kanesha 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
Kanesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kanesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,675 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kanesha 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 204,629 US residents.
Is Kanesha a common name?
We classify Kanesha as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,752 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kanesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Kanesha was 1990, when 198 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kanesha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kanesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,473 people with the name Kanesha, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,421 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 Kanesha 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 Kanesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kanesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,476 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 Kanesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kanesha is Black at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Kanesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kanesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.6% (1,320 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 Kanesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kanesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kanesha 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 Kanesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kanesha 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 Kanesha 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 Kanesha as a first name?
You can see how many Americans are named Kanesha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.