Kelda
A feminine name of Old Norse origin meaning "spring" or "fountain".
Name Census estimates that about 189 living Americans carry the first name Kelda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kelda today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kelda births was 1979 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kelda. 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 Kelda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
189
~ 1 in 1,813,515 Americans
Peak year
1979
15 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1990 SSA rank
#14,056
Tracked since 1961
Census
Kelda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 274 people with the first name Kelda, which placed it at #31,306 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
#31,306
National first-name rank
People counted
274
274 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kelda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelda is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.2%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Kelda 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 Kelda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.0% · 189
- Black or African American17.2% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 22
- Two or more races4.7% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Kelda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kelda from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 95 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kelda 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 Kelda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kelda
The name Kelda originates from Old Norse, the language spoken by the ancient Scandinavian people. It is believed to have derived from the Old Norse word "kelda," which means "spring" or "well." This name was likely given to girls born near natural springs or water sources, which were considered sacred in Norse culture.
In ancient Norse mythology, there are references to the concept of a "kelda" as a source of life and nourishment. The name may have been chosen to represent the life-giving properties of water and the importance of natural resources in Norse society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kelda can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of medieval literature written in Old Norse. These sagas often featured characters with names rooted in Norse tradition, suggesting that the name Kelda was in use during the Viking Age (793-1066 AD).
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kelda. One such person was Kelda of Rheims, a 6th-century Frankish abbess and saint who established a convent in Rheims, France. Another was Kelda Rovanion, a 12th-century Icelandic chieftain and landowner who played a significant role in the Sturlung era of Icelandic history.
In the literary realm, Kelda Gunnlaugsdóttir was a 13th-century Icelandic poet and the first known female skald (poet) in Icelandic history. Her poetic works were preserved in the Icelandic Sagas and provide valuable insights into the lives and perspectives of women during that time.
Moving forward in time, Kelda Sørensen (1855-1938) was a Danish artist and painter known for her portraits and landscapes. She studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and exhibited her works throughout Europe.
Another notable figure was Kelda Björnsdóttir (1899-1986), an Icelandic politician and women's rights activist. She was one of the first women elected to the Icelandic Parliament (Alþingi) in 1923 and played a crucial role in advocating for gender equality and women's suffrage in Iceland.
While the name Kelda may not be as common in modern times, it carries a rich historical and cultural significance, particularly in Norse and Scandinavian traditions. Its connection to natural springs and water sources reflects the reverence for the natural world in ancient Norse beliefs.
People
Kelda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kelda 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
Kelda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kelda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 189 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kelda 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 1,813,515 US residents.
Is Kelda a common name?
We classify Kelda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 210 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kelda most popular?
The single biggest year for Kelda was 1979, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kelda is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kelda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 274 people with the name Kelda, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,306 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 Kelda 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 Kelda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kelda appears almost entirely female. Of the 278 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Kelda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelda is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.2%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Kelda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kelda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (189 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 Kelda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kelda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kelda 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 Kelda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kelda 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 Kelda 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 Americans are named Kelda?
See how many Americans are named Kelda on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.