Kayleah
A feminine name of English origin meaning "freckled" or "celebration".
Name Census estimates that about 642 living Americans carry the first name Kayleah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kayleah today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kayleah births was 2010 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kayleah. 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
642
~ 1 in 533,885 Americans
Peak year
2010
31 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,674
Tracked since 1987
Census
Kayleah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 500 people with the first name Kayleah, which placed it at #20,593 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
#20,593
National first-name rank
People counted
500
500 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kayleah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayleah is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.8%) and Two or More Races (12.0%). 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 Kayleah 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 Kayleah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.6% · 283
- Black or African American14.8% · 74
- Two or more races12.0% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino10.6% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 13
Popularity
Kayleah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kayleah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 224 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
Kayleah 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 Kayleah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kayleahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kayleah
The given name Kayleah is a relatively modern invention, likely emerging in the late 20th century. It does not have a definitive etymology or cultural origin, but it is believed to be a feminine variation of the name Kyle, which has Scottish and Irish roots. The name Kyle is derived from the Gaelic word "caol," meaning "narrow" or "slender."
While the name Kayleah does not have any significant historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its similarity to the name Kyle means it shares some of the same cultural associations. Kyle has been a popular name in Scotland and Ireland for centuries, with records of individuals bearing this name dating back to the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kayleah can be found in the late 20th century. However, there are no notable historical figures with this specific spelling of the name. The closest examples would be individuals named Kayla or Kaylee, which are related variations.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Kyle or its variations. One example is Kyle Rittenhouse, an American who gained national attention in 2020 for his involvement in a shooting incident in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Another is Kyle Korver, an American professional basketball player born in 1981 and known for his three-point shooting abilities.
In the realm of entertainment, Kyle MacLachlan, an American actor born in 1959, is known for his roles in films such as "Dune" and the television series "Twin Peaks." Kyle Chandler, an American actor born in 1965, has received critical acclaim for his performances in shows like "Friday Night Lights" and "Bloodline."
In the literary world, Kyle Onstott was an American author born in 1887 who wrote the controversial novel "Mandingo," which explored the themes of slavery and racial dynamics in the American South.
While the name Kayleah itself does not have a rich historical background, its connection to the more established name Kyle allows it to share some of the cultural heritage and associations of its Scottish and Irish roots.
People
Kayleah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kayleah 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
Kayleah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kayleah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 642 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kayleah 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 533,885 US residents.
Is Kayleah a common name?
We classify Kayleah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 652 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kayleah most popular?
The single biggest year for Kayleah was 2010, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kayleah is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kayleah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 500 people with the name Kayleah, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,593 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 Kayleah 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 Kayleah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kayleah appears almost entirely female. Of the 501 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kayleah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayleah is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.8%) and Two or More Races (12.0%). 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 Kayleah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kayleah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.6% (283 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 Kayleah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kayleah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kayleah 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 Kayleah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kayleah 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 Kayleah 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 are called Kayleah?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Kayleah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.