Kash
A Sanskrit name derived from the word "kash" meaning brightness or splendor.
Name Census estimates that about 16,271 living Americans carry the first name Kash. It sits at #293 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (98.4% of registrations). The average person named Kash today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kash births was 2021 (1,510 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kash. 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 Kash with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kash is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 259 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Kash is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,065 Americans
Peak year
2021
1,510 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#293
Tracked since 1916
Census
Kash in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,188 people with the first name Kash, which placed it at #2,828 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
#2,828
National first-name rank
People counted
8.2K
8,188 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kash
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kash is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.2%) and Hispanic (9.5%). 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 Kash 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 Kash at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.6% · 4,713
- Black or African American21.2% · 1,736
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 780
- Two or more races8.6% · 701
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 141
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 117
Gender
Gender distribution for Kash
Kash leans heavily male at 98.4% of total registrations, but 259 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kash as a male name
- Ranked #293 in 2024
- 1,141 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (1,481 births)
Kash as a female name
- Ranked #7,059 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (29 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kash leans strongly male. 7,967 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 208 female bearers (2.5%).
Popularity
Kash: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kash from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 7,925 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
Kash 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 Kash during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kashs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Kash, while Wyoming, Maine, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 321 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kash
The name Kash is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit word "Kasha," which means "brilliant" or "shining." This ancient Indian name has been in use for centuries, primarily in the Indian subcontinent and regions with cultural ties to Hinduism and Buddhism.
One of the earliest known references to the name Kash can be found in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a warrior and a prince. The name also appears in Buddhist texts, suggesting its popularity among followers of both religions during ancient times.
In the 7th century, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer named Kash Brahma made significant contributions to the field of mathematics. His work on the concept of zero and the decimal system is widely recognized and has influenced modern mathematics.
During the Mughal Empire in the 16th century, Kash Khan was a prominent military commander who served under the emperor Akbar. He played a crucial role in several battles and is remembered for his bravery and strategic skills.
In the 19th century, Kash Mitra was a renowned Bengali writer and social reformer who advocated for women's education and the abolition of the caste system. His literary works and social activism had a profound impact on the Bengal Renaissance movement.
Another notable figure bearing the name Kash was Kash Iyer, an Indian independence activist and freedom fighter. He was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and participated in the non-violent resistance movement against British rule in the early 20th century.
While the name Kash has its roots in ancient Sanskrit and Indian culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world over time. Some variations of the name include Kash, Kashy, and Kashya, each with its unique cultural significance and historical context.
People
Kash + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kash 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
Kash: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kash?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kash 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 21,065 US residents.
Is Kash a common name?
We classify Kash as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,428 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kash most popular?
The single biggest year for Kash was 2021, when 1,510 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kash 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 Kash in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,188 people with the name Kash, or 2.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,828 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 Kash 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 Kash?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kash leans strongly male. 7,967 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 208 female bearers (2.5%). 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 Kash?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kash is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.2%) and Hispanic (9.5%). 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 Kash most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kash in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.6% (4,713 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 Kash in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kash a male name?
Yes, 98.4% of people registered as Kash 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 Kash still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kash 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 Kash 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 the name Kash?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Kash, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.