Kizzy
A diminutive form of the English feminine name Keziah meaning "cassia tree".
Name Census estimates that about 2,178 living Americans carry the first name Kizzy. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Kizzy today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kizzy births was 1977 (1,124 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kizzy. 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 Kizzy with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 157,371 Americans
Peak year
1977
1,124 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1978 SSA rank
#6,336
Tracked since 1977
Census
Kizzy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,997 people with the first name Kizzy, which placed it at #7,584 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
#7,584
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,997 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kizzy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kizzy is Black at 82.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Kizzy 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 Kizzy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.6% · 1,650
- White6.3% · 125
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 120
- Two or more races4.3% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Kizzy
Out of the 2,359 babies given the name Kizzy since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kizzy as a male name
- Ranked #6,336 in 1978
- 5 male births in 1978
- Peak: 1977 (7 births)
Kizzy as a female name
- Ranked #14,419 in 2021
- 6 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1977 (1,117 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kizzy appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,983 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kizzy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kizzy from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,854 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
Kizzy 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 Kizzy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kizzys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Louisiana, New York, Georgia recorded the most babies named Kizzy, while Iowa, Washington, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 64 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kizzy
The name Kizzy is a diminutive form of the name Keziah, which has its origins in the Hebrew language. The name Keziah means "cassia" or "cinnamon plant" in Hebrew, and it first appears in the Bible in the Book of Job. Keziah was one of the three daughters of Job, a famous figure in the Old Testament known for his unwavering faith and patience in the face of adversity.
While the name Keziah has ancient roots, the shortened form Kizzy is believed to have emerged later on, potentially during the 18th or 19th century. It is possible that this variant of the name became more prevalent in the United States during this time period, particularly in the Southern states, where it may have been used as a nickname or informal name for enslaved African Americans.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kizzy is found in the novel "Roots" by Alex Haley, published in 1976. In the book, Kizzy is the name of a young enslaved woman who is the daughter of the protagonist, Kunta Kinte. The novel's portrayal of Kizzy's life and struggles helped to bring greater awareness to the experiences of enslaved individuals and their families during this dark chapter in American history.
In addition to Kizzy in "Roots," there are a few other notable individuals throughout history who have carried this name. For example, Kizzy Summerall (born in 1962) is an American actress and singer who has appeared in various television shows and films. Kizzy Garrett (born in 1968) is a former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for several years.
Another individual of note is Kizzy Samrakandi (born in 1971), an Indian singer and songwriter who has performed in various languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. Additionally, Kizzy Alven (born in 1976) is a Swedish singer and songwriter known for her work in the pop and rock genres.
While the name Kizzy may not have a long and extensively documented history, its connections to the Hebrew name Keziah and its appearance in notable works of literature and popular culture have helped to establish it as a unique and meaningful name choice.
People
Kizzy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kizzy 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
Kizzy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kizzy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,178 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kizzy 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 157,371 US residents.
Is Kizzy a common name?
We classify Kizzy as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,359 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kizzy most popular?
The single biggest year for Kizzy was 1977, when 1,124 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kizzy is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kizzy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,997 people with the name Kizzy, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,584 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 Kizzy 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 Kizzy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kizzy appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,983 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Kizzy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kizzy is Black at 82.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Kizzy most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kizzy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.6% (1,650 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 Kizzy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kizzy a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Kizzy 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 Kizzy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kizzy 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 Kizzy 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 Kizzy?
You can see how many Americans are named Kizzy on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.