Kashmir
A Persian name referring to an acclaimed valley between India and Pakistan.
Name Census estimates that about 1,745 living Americans carry the first name Kashmir. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Kashmir today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kashmir births was 2022 (200 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kashmir. 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.
Key insights
- • Kashmir was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • Kashmir is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 196,421 Americans
Peak year
2022
200 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,230
Tracked since 1982
Gender
Gender distribution for Kashmir
Kashmir is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,764 total registrations, 1,222 (69.3%) were male and 542 (30.7%) were female.
Kashmir as a male name
- Ranked #1,230 in 2024
- 162 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (180 births)
Kashmir as a female name
- Ranked #6,493 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (23 births)
Popularity
Kashmir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kashmir from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 860 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
Kashmir 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 Kashmir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kashmirs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Georgia, New York, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Kashmir, while Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kashmir
The name Kashmir has its origins in the region of Kashmir, located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "Kashmirah," which means "desiccated land." This name reflects the geographical features of the Kashmir Valley, which is a landlocked region surrounded by towering mountains and known for its scenic beauty.
Kashmir is a name with a rich historical significance. It is believed to have been mentioned in ancient Hindu texts, such as the Rigveda and the Mahabharata, which date back to the second millennium BCE. In these texts, Kashmir is referred to as a sacred land and a place of spiritual significance.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kashmir was a Hindu king named Kashyapa, who ruled the region in the 3rd century BCE. He was known for his patronage of the arts and culture, and his reign marked a period of prosperity and cultural renaissance in the Kashmir Valley.
Another notable figure with the name Kashmir was a 16th-century Kashmiri poet and mystic, Lal Ded, also known as Kashmir Lal. She was renowned for her spiritual poetry, which conveyed messages of love, devotion, and the oneness of all beings. Her works have had a profound influence on the Kashmiri literary tradition and continue to be widely studied and celebrated.
In the realm of music, one of the most famous individuals with the name Kashmir was the legendary Kashmiri singer and composer,Abad Jamal. Born in 1935, he was a master of the Kashmiri Sufiyana Kalam tradition and was widely regarded as the "Voice of Kashmir." His soulful renditions of Kashmiri folk songs and devotional music continue to captivate audiences to this day.
Another prominent figure with the name Kashmir was the 19th-century Kashmiri scholar and historian, Mohi-ud-Din Kashmir. He authored several influential works on the history and culture of Kashmir, including the seminal text "Baharistan-i-Shahi," which chronicled the reigns of Kashmiri rulers from the 16th to the 18th century.
It is worth noting that the name Kashmir has also been used as a given name in various cultures and regions around the world, although its origins can be traced back to the Kashmir region.
People
Kashmir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kashmir 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
Kashmir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kashmir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,745 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kashmir 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 196,421 US residents.
Is Kashmir a common name?
We classify Kashmir as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,764 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kashmir most popular?
The single biggest year for Kashmir was 2022, when 200 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kashmir is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kashmir a male name?
Yes, 69.3% of people registered as Kashmir 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.
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.