Kha
An Arabic name meaning "brother" or "sibling".
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Kha. It is a predominantly male name (94.6% of registrations). The average person named Kha today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kha births was 2003 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kha. 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 Kha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
2003
9 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2014 SSA rank
#9,245
Tracked since 1982
Census
Kha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,331 people with the first name Kha, which placed it at #10,134 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
#10,134
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,331 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Black (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Kha 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 Kha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.8% · 1,262
- Black or African American2.1% · 28
- Two or more races1.3% · 17
- White1.2% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Kha
Kha leans heavily male at 94.6% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kha as a male name
- Ranked #9,245 in 2014
- 8 male births in 2014
- Peak: 2003 (9 births)
Kha as a female name
- Ranked #14,259 in 1991
- 5 female births in 1991
- Peak: 1991 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kha on both sides of the split. Of the 1,326 people counted with this name, 950 were male (71.6%) and 376 were female (28.4%).
Popularity
Kha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kha from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 30 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kha 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 Kha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Khas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kha
The given name Kha has its origins in ancient Egypt, dating back to the third millennium BC. It is derived from the Egyptian word "kha," which means "the rising one" or "the one who has risen," referring to the rising of the sun or the resurrection of the soul after death.
In ancient Egyptian theology, Kha was often associated with the concept of rebirth and renewal. It was a name commonly given to individuals who were believed to have a special connection with the divine realm or the cycle of life and death.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kha can be found in the Pyramid Texts, a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary inscriptions from the Old Kingdom period (c. 2686–2181 BC). These texts mention various individuals with the name Kha, suggesting its widespread use during that era.
Throughout ancient Egyptian history, several notable figures bore the name Kha. One of the most prominent was Kha, a high-ranking official and overseer of works during the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (c. 1390–1352 BC). His tomb, discovered in the Theban Necropolis, contained exquisite wall paintings and provided valuable insights into ancient Egyptian art and culture.
Another famous bearer of the name was Kha-em-hat, a renowned architect and overseer of works during the Old Kingdom period (c. 2686–2181 BC). He was responsible for the construction of several iconic pyramids, including the iconic Step Pyramid of Djoser, which is considered one of the earliest monumental stone structures in Egypt.
In the realm of literature, the name Kha appears in various ancient Egyptian texts and inscriptions. One notable example is the "Tale of Kha-em-ipet," a satirical narrative from the New Kingdom period (c. 1550–1070 BC), which tells the story of a man named Kha-em-ipet and his encounters with the gods.
Outside of Egypt, the name Kha also found its way into other ancient cultures and languages. In ancient Mesopotamia, for instance, the name "Kha-bau" was used, which shared a similar meaning and roots with the Egyptian counterpart.
Throughout history, several other notable individuals have borne the name Kha, including Kha-em-Waset, a high-ranking Egyptian official during the 18th Dynasty (c. 1550–1292 BC), and Kha-em-Maat, a renowned scribe and philosopher from the 26th Dynasty (c. 664–525 BC).
People
Kha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kha 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
Kha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kha 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 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Kha a common name?
We classify Kha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 93 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kha most popular?
The single biggest year for Kha was 2003, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kha is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,331 people with the name Kha, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,134 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 Kha 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 Kha?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kha on both sides of the split. Of the 1,326 people counted with this name, 950 were male (71.6%) and 376 were female (28.4%). 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 Kha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Black (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Kha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (1,262 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 Kha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kha a male name?
Yes, 94.6% of people registered as Kha 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 Kha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kha 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 Kha 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 Kha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.