Kisa
A feminine name of Japanese origin thought to derive from "kisamuna", meaning "chance meeting".
Name Census estimates that about 588 living Americans carry the first name Kisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kisa today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kisa births was 1978 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kisa. 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 Kisa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
588
~ 1 in 582,916 Americans
Peak year
1978
30 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,318
Tracked since 1964
Census
Kisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 630 people with the first name Kisa, which placed it at #17,487 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
#17,487
National first-name rank
People counted
630
630 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
36.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kisa is White at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Kisa 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 Kisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White36.2% · 228
- Black or African American34.4% · 217
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.3% · 84
- Two or more races8.1% · 51
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 9
Popularity
Kisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kisa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 218 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
Kisa 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 Kisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kisas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kisa
The name Kisa has its origins in the Finnish language and culture, with its earliest roots dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Finnish word "kisa," which means "cat" or "feline." This name was likely given to children as a way of expressing their playful and agile nature, much like a cat.
In ancient Finnish folklore, cats were often associated with mysticism, luck, and prosperity. As such, the name Kisa may have been bestowed upon children as a way of invoking these positive qualities and blessings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kisa can be found in the Finnish epic poem "Kalevala," which was compiled from ancient oral traditions in the 19th century. In this poem, Kisa is mentioned as the name of a character who plays a significant role in the narrative.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kisa. One such person was Kisa Göteborgare (1420-1492), a Swedish painter and woodcarver who was renowned for his intricate religious artwork. Another was Kisa Koskinen (1578-1649), a Finnish farmer and landowner who played a pivotal role in the development of agriculture in the region.
In the 18th century, Kisa Johansson (1712-1787) was a celebrated Finnish artist known for her detailed landscape paintings and portraits. Kisa Nylander (1835-1907) was a renowned Finnish author and poet whose works explored themes of nature, love, and the human condition.
More recently, Kisa Danielsson (1928-2005) was a Swedish singer and actress who gained popularity in the mid-20th century for her performances in musicals and on the stage.
While the name Kisa may not be as common today as it once was, its rich history and connection to Finnish culture and folklore make it a unique and meaningful moniker with deep roots.
People
Kisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kisa 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
Kisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 588 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kisa 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 582,916 US residents.
Is Kisa a common name?
We classify Kisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 628 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Kisa was 1978, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kisa is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 630 people with the name Kisa, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,487 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 Kisa 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 Kisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kisa leans strongly female. 610 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 19 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Kisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kisa is White at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Kisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.2% (228 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 Kisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kisa 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 Kisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kisa 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 Kisa 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 share the name Kisa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.