Klea
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "glory, renown, or praise".
Name Census estimates that about 265 living Americans carry the first name Klea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Klea today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Klea births was 2022 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Klea. 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 Klea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
265
~ 1 in 1,293,413 Americans
Peak year
2022
19 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,232
Tracked since 1920
Census
Klea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 376 people with the first name Klea, which placed it at #25,264 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
#25,264
National first-name rank
People counted
376
376 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Klea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Klea is White at 85.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Klea 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 Klea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.9% · 323
- Black or African American4.3% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 12
- Two or more races2.9% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Klea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Klea from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 122 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Klea remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Klea 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 Klea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kleas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Klea
The name Klea has its origins in Ancient Greek culture, deriving from the word "kleos," which means "glory" or "renown." It was a popular name among Greek families, particularly those of noble or aristocratic descent, as it conveyed the desire for their children to achieve greatness and honor.
In Greek mythology, Klea was the name of one of the Muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who presided over history and epic poetry. The association with the Muses added a layer of cultural significance and artistic connotation to the name.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Klea dates back to the 5th century BC, when it appears in various ancient Greek texts and inscriptions. One notable example is Klea of Samos, a philosopher and poet who lived around 450 BC and was renowned for her wisdom and intellectual prowess.
Throughout history, several prominent individuals have borne the name Klea, contributing to its enduring legacy. One such figure was Klea of Corinth (c. 350 BC), a renowned painter and the first woman known to have painted with a brush, as opposed to the traditional encaustic method.
In the realm of literature, Klea was the name of a character in the ancient Greek novel "Daphnis and Chloe" by Longus, written in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. This work's popularity helped to preserve and disseminate the name throughout the Greek-speaking world.
During the Byzantine era, Klea was the name of a notable woman who lived in the 6th century AD. She was the wife of the renowned scholar and philosopher Boethius, and her name is mentioned in his influential work "The Consolation of Philosophy."
In the 19th century, Klea resurfaced as the name of a Greek painter and poet, Klea Palama (1836-1884), who was celebrated for her artistry and contributions to the cultural renaissance of modern Greece.
While the name Klea may not be as widely used today as it once was, its rich historical roots and association with artistic and intellectual pursuits have imbued it with a sense of timeless elegance and cultural significance.
People
Klea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Klea 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
Klea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Klea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 265 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Klea 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 1,293,413 US residents.
Is Klea a common name?
We classify Klea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 279 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Klea most popular?
The single biggest year for Klea was 2022, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Klea is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Klea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 376 people with the name Klea, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,264 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 Klea 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 Klea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Klea leans strongly female. 370 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Klea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Klea is White at 85.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Klea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Klea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.9% (323 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 Klea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Klea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Klea 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 Klea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Klea 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 Klea 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 Klea?
See how many Americans are named Klea on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.