Kanika
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "the smallest one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,172 living Americans carry the first name Kanika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kanika today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kanika births was 1978 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kanika. 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 Kanika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 292,453 Americans
Peak year
1978
95 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,285
Tracked since 1973
Census
Kanika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,777 people with the first name Kanika, which placed it at #8,204 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
#8,204
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,777 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
52.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kanika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kanika is Asian/Pacific Islander at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (42.2%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Kanika 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 Kanika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander52.6% · 935
- Black or African American42.2% · 750
- Two or more races2.3% · 40
- White1.8% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Popularity
Kanika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kanika from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 500 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kanika 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 Kanika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kanikas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Kanika, while New Jersey, Mississippi, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kanika
The name Kanika has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was predominant in ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "kanak," which means gold or golden. The name is believed to have been in use as early as the 6th century BC during the Vedic period in India.
Kanika was a common name given to girls in Hindu families, particularly in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. The name was often associated with beauty, prosperity, and radiance, reflecting the cultural significance of gold in Indian society.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Kanika can be found in the ancient Hindu text, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Kanika was the name of a Naga princess, known for her beauty and courage.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kanika. One of the earliest was Kanika, a 7th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer known for her contributions to the development of the Hindu calendar.
Another prominent figure was Kanika Devi, a 10th-century Indian ruler and warrior queen who governed the Kanika Kingdom in present-day Odisha, India. She was renowned for her military prowess and her patronage of arts and literature.
In the 12th century, Kanika was the name of a Sanskrit poet and scholar who authored several works on grammar and poetics. Her writings were influential in the literary circles of medieval India.
Moving forward to the 20th century, Kanika Mukherjee was an Indian freedom fighter and social activist who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. She was born in 1904 and dedicated her life to promoting women's rights and education.
Lastly, Kanika Kapoor is a contemporary Indian singer and songwriter, born in 1978, who has gained popularity for her versatile voice and contributions to Bollywood music.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Kanika, highlighting its rich cultural heritage and enduring presence across various eras and regions.
People
Kanika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kanika 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
Kanika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kanika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,172 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kanika 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 292,453 US residents.
Is Kanika a common name?
We classify Kanika as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,248 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kanika most popular?
The single biggest year for Kanika was 1978, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kanika is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kanika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,777 people with the name Kanika, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,204 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 Kanika 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 Kanika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kanika appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,779 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Kanika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kanika is Asian/Pacific Islander at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (42.2%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Kanika most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kanika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.6% (935 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 Kanika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kanika a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kanika 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 Kanika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kanika 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 Kanika 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 Kanika as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Kanika, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.