Ketha
A feminine name of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from Sanskrit meaning "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Ketha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ketha today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ketha births was 1970 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ketha. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ketha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
1970
8 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1970 SSA rank
#6,062
Tracked since 1954
Census
Ketha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 116 people with the first name Ketha, which placed it at #51,012 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
#51,012
National first-name rank
People counted
116
116 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ketha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ketha is White at 47.4%. The next largest groups are Black (44.8%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Ketha 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 Ketha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.4% · 55
- Black or African American44.8% · 52
- Two or more races4.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Popularity
Ketha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ketha from the 1950s through to the 1970s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 8 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ketha 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 Ketha 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 Ketha
The name Ketha is believed to have originated from the ancient Sanskrit language, which was spoken in the Indian subcontinent during the Vedic period, around 1500-500 BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "ketha," meaning "bright" or "radiant." This name was likely given to children as a symbolic representation of light and purity.
In ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and Puranas, there are references to various deities and mythological figures with names similar to Ketha, suggesting the name's early usage and cultural significance. One such figure is Kethu, a shadowy celestial entity associated with the descending lunar node in Hindu astrology.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Ketha can be traced back to ancient inscriptions and texts from the Indian subcontinent, dating back to the early centuries of the Common Era. Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne this name, including:
1. Ketha Narayan (1506-1579), a renowned mathematician and astronomer from the Vijayanagar Empire in southern India, known for his contributions to the development of trigonometry and astronomy.
2. Ketha Devi (c. 1300-1350), a Rajput princess and warrior from the Chauhan dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India, who was celebrated for her bravery and leadership skills in battles against invading forces.
3. Ketha Bhatta (c. 800-900 CE), a Sanskrit scholar and grammarian from the Indian state of Karnataka, who authored several influential treatises on Sanskrit grammar and linguistics.
4. Ketha Rama Raju (1920-1998), an Indian freedom fighter and political leader from Andhra Pradesh, who played a significant role in the struggle for India's independence from British rule.
5. Ketha Sachchidananda Shivayogi (1887-1963), a renowned Hindu spiritual leader and yogi from Karnataka, India, who founded the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute and promoted the practice of traditional Yoga and Vedic teachings.
While the name Ketha has its roots in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu culture, it has been adopted and used across various regions of India over the centuries, often carrying the connotations of brightness, radiance, and purity associated with its etymological origins.
People
Ketha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ketha 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
Ketha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ketha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ketha 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Ketha a common name?
We classify Ketha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ketha most popular?
The single biggest year for Ketha was 1970, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ketha is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ketha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 116 people with the name Ketha, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,012 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 Ketha 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 Ketha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ketha leans strongly female. 113 people counted with this name were female (95.8%), compared with 5 male bearers (4.2%). 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 Ketha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ketha is White at 47.4%. The next largest groups are Black (44.8%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Ketha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ketha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.4% (55 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 Ketha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ketha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ketha 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 Ketha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ketha 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 Ketha 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 Ketha as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Ketha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.