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Very Rare

Katalaya

A feminine name derived from Sanskrit meaning "flower garland".

Name Census estimates that about 448 living Americans carry the first name Katalaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katalaya today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katalaya births was 2014 (56 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Katalaya. 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

448

~ 1 in 765,077 Americans

Peak year

2014

56 babies that year

Average age

8

years old

2024 SSA rank

#4,702

Tracked since 2012

Popularity

Katalaya: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Katalaya from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 288 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Katalaya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.

Babies born per year

01428425620152020

Decades

Katalaya 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 Katalaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
2010s0288288
2020s0163163

Geography

Where Katalayas live

The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Katalaya, while Michigan, Ohio, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.

Origin

Meaning and history of Katalaya

The name Katalaya has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, which was widely used in the Indian subcontinent during the vedic period between 1500 BCE and 500 BCE. The name is derived from the Sanskrit words "kata," meaning "story" or "narrative," and "laya," meaning "dissolution" or "absorption." Therefore, the name Katalaya can be interpreted as "one who is absorbed in stories" or "one who is immersed in narratives."

In the ancient Hindu texts, such as the Puranas and the Epics, there are references to several characters with names similar to Katalaya. One such example is the character of Katayani, a name used to refer to the goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. This name is believed to be a variant of Katalaya and is associated with the goddess's role as the narrator of sacred stories and the embodiment of divine knowledge.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Katalaya can be traced back to the 8th century CE, during the reign of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent. Several inscriptions and historical records from this period mention individuals bearing this name. One notable figure was Katalaya, a renowned scholar and poet who lived during the reign of the Pala king Dharmapala (770-810 CE). Her works, though not fully preserved, were highly regarded for their literary merit and philosophical depth.

Another prominent person with the name Katalaya was a Buddhist monk who lived in the 12th century CE. He was a renowned scholar and teacher of the Vajrayana tradition and is credited with establishing several monasteries and centers of learning in the region that is now modern-day Bangladesh. His writings on Buddhist philosophy and meditation practices were highly influential and are still studied today.

In the 14th century CE, there was a famous Sufi mystic and poet named Katalaya who lived in the court of the Delhi Sultanate. Her devotional compositions and spiritual teachings were widely celebrated, and she is often referred to as one of the pioneers of the Sufi movement in South Asia.

During the 16th century, there was a prominent Hindu scholar and astrologer named Katalaya who served as an advisor to the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He was renowned for his expertise in the fields of astronomy, astrology, and mathematics, and his treatises on these subjects were widely studied in the imperial courts of the time.

These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Katalaya. The name has maintained its significance and cultural relevance in various regions of South Asia, particularly in areas where Sanskrit and its linguistic offshoots have had a profound influence.

People

Katalaya + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Katalaya 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

Katalaya: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Katalaya?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 448 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katalaya 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 765,077 US residents.

Is Katalaya a common name?

We classify Katalaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 451 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Katalaya most popular?

The single biggest year for Katalaya was 2014, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katalaya is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Katalaya a female name?

Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katalaya 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.

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.

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Katalaya

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