Kansas
A feminine name derived from the Sioux Native American tribe meaning "people of the south wind".
Name Census estimates that about 1,229 living Americans carry the first name Kansas. It is a predominantly female name (92.9% of registrations). The average person named Kansas today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kansas births was 2002 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kansas. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 278,889 Americans
Peak year
2002
50 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,748
Tracked since 1898
Census
Kansas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,106 people with the first name Kansas, which placed it at #11,542 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
#11,542
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,106 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kansas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kansas is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Kansas 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 Kansas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.3% · 789
- Black or African American13.3% · 147
- Two or more races5.8% · 64
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.6% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Kansas
Kansas leans heavily female at 92.9% of total registrations, but 93 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kansas as a male name
- Ranked #11,609 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (12 births)
Kansas as a female name
- Ranked #7,748 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kansas leans strongly female. 960 people counted with this name were female (87.1%), compared with 142 male bearers (12.9%).
Popularity
Kansas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kansas from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 367 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kansas remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kansas 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 Kansas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kansas' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kansas, while Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kansas
The given name Kansas has its origins in the Native American Siouan language group, spoken by various tribes of the Great Plains region of North America. The name itself is believed to be derived from the Siouan word "kanza," which translates to "people of the south wind" or "wind people."
The name Kansas first gained prominence in the mid-17th century, when it was used to refer to the Kaw Nation, a Native American tribe that originally inhabited the region now known as the state of Kansas. This tribe, also known as the Kanza or Kansa, played a significant role in the history of the region, engaging in trade and cultural exchanges with other tribes and early European settlers.
While the name Kansas does not appear to have been widely recorded in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has a rich history rooted in the cultural traditions of the Kaw Nation. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name can be found in the journals of French explorer Jacques Marquette, who encountered the Kaw Nation during his explorations of the Mississippi River in the late 17th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kansas, although its use as a given name has been relatively rare. One of the earliest recorded examples is Kansas Ussery (1892-1972), an American baseball player who spent his entire professional career with the St. Louis Cardinals in the early 20th century.
Another notable figure with the name Kansas was Kansas Charley Rath (1859-1934), a frontiersman and cowboy who gained fame for his exploits in the American West. He was known for his skill as a horse wrangler and participated in several cattle drives, earning him a reputation as a skilled cowhand.
In the realm of literature, Kansas Gomillion (1905-2003) was an African American author and poet who drew inspiration from her experiences growing up in the South. Her works often explored themes of racial injustice and the struggles faced by marginalized communities.
Moving into more recent times, Kansas Bowling (1947-2015) was an American singer and songwriter known for her contributions to the country music genre. She released several albums and singles throughout her career, earning acclaim for her powerful vocals and emotive storytelling.
Lastly, Kansas Carradine (born 1973) is an American actress and model who has appeared in various films and television shows. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the cult classic film "The Covenant" and the television series "Southland."
While the name Kansas may not be as common as some other given names, it carries a rich cultural heritage and has been borne by individuals across various fields, from sports and literature to music and entertainment.
People
Kansas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kansas 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
Kansas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kansas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,229 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kansas 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 278,889 US residents.
Is Kansas a common name?
We classify Kansas as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,309 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kansas most popular?
The single biggest year for Kansas was 2002, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kansas is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kansas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,106 people with the name Kansas, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,542 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 Kansas 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 Kansas?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kansas leans strongly female. 960 people counted with this name were female (87.1%), compared with 142 male bearers (12.9%). 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 Kansas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kansas is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Kansas most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kansas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.3% (789 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 Kansas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kansas a female name?
Yes, 92.9% of people registered as Kansas 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 Kansas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kansas 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 Kansas 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 Kansas?
Find out how many people share the name Kansas on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.