Kimo
A masculine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "the seeker".
Name Census estimates that about 806 living Americans carry the first name Kimo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kimo today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kimo births was 1981 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kimo. 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
806
~ 1 in 425,254 Americans
Peak year
1981
28 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,443
Tracked since 1949
Census
Kimo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 859 people with the first name Kimo, which placed it at #13,902 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
#13,902
National first-name rank
People counted
859
859 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
36.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kimo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (26.7%) and White (13.3%). 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 Kimo 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 Kimo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander36.9% · 317
- Two or more races26.7% · 229
- White13.3% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino12.5% · 107
- Black or African American9.9% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 7
Popularity
Kimo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kimo from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 177 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kimo 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 Kimo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kimos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kimo
The name Kimo has its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture. It is a shortened form of the name Keanu, which means "the cool, gently blowing breeze" in Hawaiian. The name Kimo is believed to have been in use since the early 19th century in the Hawaiian Islands.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kimo can be traced back to the 1800s. One of the earliest known figures with this name was Kimo Kamali'i, a Hawaiian chief and landowner who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was a prominent figure in the Hawaiian Kingdom during the reign of King Kamehameha I.
Another notable historical figure with the name Kimo was Kimo Peleioholani, a Hawaiian high chief and advisor to King Kamehameha III in the mid-19th century. He played a significant role in the political affairs of the Hawaiian Kingdom during that time.
In the 20th century, Kimo Kahoano was a renowned Hawaiian musician and composer. Born in 1904, he was known for his contributions to the revitalization of Hawaiian music and helped popularize traditional Hawaiian songs.
Kimo Hui was a Hawaiian activist and leader in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. Born in 1938, he dedicated his life to preserving and promoting Hawaiian culture, language, and rights.
Kimo Akane was a Hawaiian artist and sculptor, born in 1923. He was renowned for his wood carvings and sculptures depicting Hawaiian mythology and culture.
While the name Kimo has its roots in Hawaiian culture, it has gained popularity in other parts of the world as well. However, its historical significance and cultural connections remain deeply rooted in the Hawaiian Islands and its rich heritage.
People
Kimo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kimo 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
Kimo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kimo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 806 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kimo 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 425,254 US residents.
Is Kimo a common name?
We classify Kimo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 859 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kimo most popular?
The single biggest year for Kimo was 1981, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kimo is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kimo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 859 people with the name Kimo, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,902 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 Kimo 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 Kimo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kimo leans strongly male. 832 people counted with this name were male (96.9%), compared with 27 female bearers (3.1%). 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 Kimo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (26.7%) and White (13.3%). 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 Kimo most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kimo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.9% (317 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 Kimo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kimo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kimo 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 Kimo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kimo 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 Kimo 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 Kimo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.