Khianna
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "beautiful lady".
Name Census estimates that about 164 living Americans carry the first name Khianna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Khianna today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Khianna births was 2009 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Khianna. 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 Khianna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
164
~ 1 in 2,089,965 Americans
Peak year
2009
23 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2021 SSA rank
#14,399
Tracked since 1994
Census
Khianna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 165 people with the first name Khianna, which placed it at #43,061 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
#43,061
National first-name rank
People counted
165
165 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
37.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Khianna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khianna is Black at 37.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and White (17.6%). 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 Khianna 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 Khianna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American37.0% · 61
- Hispanic or Latino21.8% · 36
- White17.6% · 29
- Two or more races16.4% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 5
Popularity
Khianna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Khianna from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 69 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Khianna 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 Khianna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Khiannas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Khianna
The name Khianna is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, which was the root of many modern Indian languages. It is thought to be a variation of the Sanskrit name "Kshana," which means "moment" or "instant." This name likely emerged during the Vedic period in India, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
While the name Khianna does not appear to have any direct references in ancient Hindu scriptures or texts, its Sanskrit roots suggest that it may have been used as a name during the height of the Vedic civilization in the Indian subcontinent. It is possible that the name was initially given to children as a reminder of the fleeting nature of time and the importance of living in the present moment.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Khianna was a 7th-century Buddhist scholar and poet from the Pallava kingdom in South India. Known as Khianna Acharya, she is renowned for her contributions to the study of Buddhist philosophy and her influential poetic works.
In the 12th century, there was a notable Persian mathematician and astronomer named Khianna al-Tusi, who made significant advancements in the fields of trigonometry and spherical geometry. She is also credited with developing several innovative astronomical instruments during her lifetime.
During the Mughal Empire in India, which lasted from the 16th to the 19th century, there was a renowned female warrior and military strategist named Khianna Begum. She played a crucial role in several battles and is remembered for her bravery and leadership skills.
In the early 20th century, there was an influential Egyptian feminist and writer named Khianna El-Sadat. She was a prominent advocate for women's rights and education, and her works explored themes of gender equality and social justice.
Another notable figure with the name Khianna was a 20th-century Indian classical dancer and choreographer named Khianna Devi. She was instrumental in popularizing and preserving the traditional dance forms of Odissi and Chhau, and her contributions to the arts were widely celebrated.
People
Khianna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Khianna 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
Khianna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Khianna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 164 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Khianna 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 2,089,965 US residents.
Is Khianna a common name?
We classify Khianna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 166 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Khianna most popular?
The single biggest year for Khianna was 2009, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Khianna is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Khianna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 165 people with the name Khianna, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,061 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 Khianna 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 Khianna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Khianna appears almost entirely female. Of the 154 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Khianna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khianna is Black at 37.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and White (17.6%). 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 Khianna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Khianna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.0% (61 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 Khianna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Khianna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Khianna 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 Khianna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Khianna 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 Khianna 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 the name Khianna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.