Kayana
A feminine name of Native American origin meaning "little pathfinder".
Name Census estimates that about 1,057 living Americans carry the first name Kayana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kayana today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kayana births was 2008 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kayana. 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 Kayana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 324,271 Americans
Peak year
2008
51 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,505
Tracked since 1978
Census
Kayana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 896 people with the first name Kayana, which placed it at #13,457 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
#13,457
National first-name rank
People counted
896
896 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kayana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayana is Black at 48.7%. The next largest groups are White (20.9%) and Two or More Races (13.3%). 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 Kayana 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 Kayana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.7% · 436
- White20.9% · 187
- Two or more races13.3% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 98
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 20
Popularity
Kayana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kayana from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 394 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
Kayana 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 Kayana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kayanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Kayana, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kayana
The given name Kayana has its origins rooted in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the foundational tongue for many modern Indian languages. The name is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word "kāya," which translates to "body" or "physical form." It is likely that the name Kayana was initially bestowed upon individuals to symbolize their physical beauty or to commemorate the significance of the human form.
During the ancient Vedic period in India, which spanned from approximately 1500 BCE to 600 BCE, the name Kayana was occasionally mentioned in various Hindu scriptures and sacred texts. Scholars have uncovered references to individuals bearing this name in the Upanishads, which are philosophical texts that delve into the nature of reality and the human condition.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kayana was a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived during the 5th century CE. His full name was Kayana Matanga, and he made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the areas of algebra and trigonometry. His works, such as the "Kayana-Sulba-Sutra," were widely studied and influenced subsequent generations of scholars.
In the 8th century CE, a prominent Indian philosopher and logician named Kayana Bhatta emerged. He was known for his expertise in the Nyaya school of Indian philosophy, which focused on logic, epistemology, and metaphysics. Kayana Bhatta's influential treatise, "Nyaya-Manjari," explored various philosophical concepts and became a seminal text in the field.
During the medieval period, a notable figure named Kayana Rishi gained recognition as a revered Hindu spiritual leader and sage. He is believed to have lived in the 12th century CE and was renowned for his wisdom and teachings on Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic school of Hindu philosophy.
In the realm of literature, Kayana Devi was a celebrated Indian poet who lived during the 16th century CE. Her poetic works, which often explored themes of love, devotion, and spirituality, were widely acclaimed and continue to be studied and appreciated by scholars and literature enthusiasts.
It is important to note that while the name Kayana has deep roots in Indian culture and history, its usage has transcended geographical boundaries over time. Individuals from various cultural backgrounds have adopted and embraced the name, contributing to its global diversity and significance.
People
Kayana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kayana 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
Kayana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kayana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,057 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kayana 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 324,271 US residents.
Is Kayana a common name?
We classify Kayana as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,078 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kayana most popular?
The single biggest year for Kayana was 2008, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kayana is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kayana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 896 people with the name Kayana, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,457 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 Kayana 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 Kayana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kayana leans strongly female. 890 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 15 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Kayana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayana is Black at 48.7%. The next largest groups are White (20.9%) and Two or More Races (13.3%). 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 Kayana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kayana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.7% (436 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 Kayana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kayana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kayana 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.
Is Kayana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kayana 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 Kayana 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 Kayana as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Kayana, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.