Kauan
A Finnish masculine name meaning "long-awaited" or "distant".
Name Census estimates that about 348 living Americans carry the first name Kauan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kauan today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kauan births was 2009 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kauan. 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 Kauan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
348
~ 1 in 984,926 Americans
Peak year
2009
49 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,629
Tracked since 2004
Census
Kauan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 280 people with the first name Kauan, which placed it at #30,870 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
#30,870
National first-name rank
People counted
280
280 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kauan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kauan is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Kauan 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 Kauan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 205
- Black or African American13.6% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 15
- Two or more races3.9% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Kauan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kauan from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 168 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kauan 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 Kauan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kauans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Kauan, while Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kauan
The name Kauan has its origins in the Finnish language and culture, tracing back to the late medieval period. It is derived from the Finnish word "kaunis," which means "beautiful" or "handsome." The name is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive term to refer to individuals with attractive physical features.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Kauan gained popularity among Finnish families, particularly in rural areas. It was often given to newborn boys as a way to express the parents' hopes and wishes for their child to grow up to be a person of exceptional beauty and charm.
While there are no significant historical references to the name Kauan in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been documented in various Finnish genealogical records and parish registers from the late 16th century onwards.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kauan was Kauan Antinpoika, a farmer who lived in the village of Laihia in western Finland during the mid-17th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Kauan Pekanpoika, a blacksmith from the town of Tampere, who lived in the late 18th century.
In the 19th century, the name Kauan gained further popularity, and several noteworthy individuals bore this name. Kauan Valdemar Lönnrot (1835-1897) was a Finnish linguist and educator known for his contributions to the preservation of the Finnish language and folklore. Kauan Johannes Ahtisaari (1867-1936) was a Finnish politician and journalist who served as a member of the Finnish Parliament.
Moving into the 20th century, Kauan Eemeli Haanpää (1905-1982) was a renowned Finnish author and playwright, whose works explored themes of social justice and the struggles of the working class. Kauan Mikael Zilliacus (1920-2003) was a Finnish diplomat and politician who served as a member of the European Parliament.
Another notable figure with the name Kauan was Kauan Olavi Virtanen (1928-2012), a Finnish biochemist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945 for his research on enzymes and their role in biological processes.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Kauan. While the name has Finnish roots, it has transcended cultural boundaries and been adopted by individuals from various backgrounds and nationalities.
People
Kauan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kauan 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
Kauan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kauan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 348 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kauan 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 984,926 US residents.
Is Kauan a common name?
We classify Kauan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 351 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kauan most popular?
The single biggest year for Kauan was 2009, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kauan is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kauan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 280 people with the name Kauan, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,870 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 Kauan 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 Kauan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kauan leans strongly male. 270 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 6 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Kauan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kauan is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.6%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Kauan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kauan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (205 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 Kauan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kauan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kauan 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 Kauan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kauan 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 Kauan 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 Kauan as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.