Kasai
From Japanese origins, a name referencing a blaze or wildfire.
Name Census estimates that about 633 living Americans carry the first name Kasai. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Kasai today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kasai births was 2024 (94 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kasai. 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 Kasai with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
633
~ 1 in 541,476 Americans
Peak year
2024
94 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,749
Tracked since 1996
Census
Kasai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 294 people with the first name Kasai, which placed it at #29,893 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
#29,893
National first-name rank
People counted
294
294 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kasai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kasai is Black at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Kasai 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 Kasai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.5% · 225
- Hispanic or Latino11.9% · 35
- Two or more races7.1% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 8
- White1.7% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Kasai
Kasai leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kasai as a male name
- Ranked #1,749 in 2024
- 94 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (94 births)
Kasai as a female name
- Ranked #16,340 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2019 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kasai leans strongly male. 260 people counted with this name were male (86.1%), compared with 42 female bearers (13.9%).
Popularity
Kasai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kasai from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 317 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
Kasai 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 Kasai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kasais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Kasai, while Texas, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kasai
The given name Kasai has its origins in Japanese culture, where it is a combination of two distinct words: "ka" meaning "fire" and "sai" meaning "talent" or "genius." Together, the name can be interpreted as "a talented or gifted person with a fiery spirit."
The earliest recorded use of the name Kasai dates back to the Heian period (794-1185 CE) in Japan, when it was primarily used for males. During this time, the name was closely associated with the samurai warrior class, as it embodied the qualities of bravery, strength, and unwavering determination that were highly valued by these skilled warriors.
In ancient Japanese literature, the name Kasai appears in several texts, including the "Tale of the Heike," an epic narrative that chronicles the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan in the late 12th century. One notable figure bearing this name was Kasai Masahiro (1564-1622), a renowned samurai and military strategist who served under the powerful Tokugawa shogunate.
As Japan entered the Edo period (1603-1868), the name Kasai continued to be favored among the nobility and samurai class. During this era, Kasai Yoshitaka (1652-1703) rose to prominence as a skilled calligrapher and poet, renowned for his mastery of traditional Japanese arts.
In more recent history, Kasai Zenzō (1887-1928) was a prominent Japanese painter and printmaker who is celebrated for his woodblock prints depicting traditional Japanese landscapes and scenes from daily life. His works are considered masterpieces of the Ukiyo-e art form and are highly sought after by collectors worldwide.
Another notable figure named Kasai is Kasai Masaru (1918-2008), a Japanese engineer who made significant contributions to the development of the bullet train, or Shinkansen. His innovative designs and technical expertise played a crucial role in establishing Japan's renowned high-speed rail network, which revolutionized transportation in the country.
While the name Kasai has its roots in Japanese culture, it has also gained recognition and popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among those with an appreciation for Japanese history and traditions.
People
Kasai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kasai 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
Kasai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kasai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 633 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kasai 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 541,476 US residents.
Is Kasai a common name?
We classify Kasai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 638 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kasai most popular?
The single biggest year for Kasai was 2024, when 94 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kasai is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kasai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 294 people with the name Kasai, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,893 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 Kasai 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 Kasai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kasai leans strongly male. 260 people counted with this name were male (86.1%), compared with 42 female bearers (13.9%). 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 Kasai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kasai is Black at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Kasai most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kasai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.5% (225 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 Kasai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kasai a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Kasai in the SSA data are male. 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 Kasai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kasai 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 Kasai 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 are called Kasai?
You can see how many people have the name Kasai on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.