Kodiak
A name of indigenous origin meaning "island" or "big bear".
Name Census estimates that about 752 living Americans carry the first name Kodiak. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kodiak today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kodiak births was 2019 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kodiak. 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
752
~ 1 in 455,790 Americans
Peak year
2019
40 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,928
Tracked since 1988
Census
Kodiak in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 572 people with the first name Kodiak, which placed it at #18,742 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
#18,742
National first-name rank
People counted
572
572 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kodiak
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kodiak is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.7%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Kodiak 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 Kodiak at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.9% · 440
- Two or more races8.7% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.5% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
- Black or African American0.3% · 2
Popularity
Kodiak: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kodiak from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 244 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kodiak remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kodiak 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 Kodiak during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kodiaks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kodiak
The name Kodiak has its origins rooted in the native Alaskan language spoken by the Alutiiq people, who inhabited the Kodiak Archipelago in the Gulf of Alaska. The name is derived from the Alutiiq word "Qikertaq," which means "island." This connection to the archipelago is a direct reference to the largest island in the chain, Kodiak Island, which was historically known as Qikertarpak.
The earliest known use of the name Kodiak dates back to the late 18th century, when the Russian fur trader Grigory Shelikhov established the first permanent Russian settlement on Kodiak Island in 1784. This outpost, called Pavlovskaya Gavan (Paul's Harbor), was the starting point for Russian exploration and colonization of the region.
In ancient Alutiiq mythology, Kodiak Island was believed to be the birthplace of the first humans, created by the Raven creator deity. This legend is recorded in oral traditions passed down through generations of Alutiiq elders.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kodiak was Kodiak Arhimandrite Ioasaf (1797-1825), a Russian Orthodox monk and missionary who lived and worked among the Alutiiq people on Kodiak Island in the early 19th century.
Another notable figure was Kodiak Kristian (1837-1868), an Alutiiq chief and leader who played a crucial role in negotiating treaties between his people and the Russian-American Company during the period of Russian colonization.
In more recent times, Kodiak Yazzie (1913-1976) was a prominent Navajo artist and silversmith, known for his intricate jewelry designs and contributions to preserving traditional Navajo culture.
Kodiak O'Dell (1935-2018) was an American professional wrestler and actor, best known for his tenure in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Lastly, Kodiak Greenwood (born 1962) is a Canadian author and journalist, who has written extensively on topics related to indigenous cultures and environmental issues in North America.
While the name Kodiak is primarily associated with the Alutiiq people and the island that bears its name, it has transcended its geographical origins and found use among various cultures and communities around the world, serving as a reminder of the rich history and traditions of the Alaskan region.
People
Kodiak + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kodiak 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
Kodiak: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kodiak?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 752 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kodiak 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 455,790 US residents.
Is Kodiak a common name?
We classify Kodiak as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 762 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kodiak most popular?
The single biggest year for Kodiak was 2019, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kodiak 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 Kodiak in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 572 people with the name Kodiak, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,742 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 Kodiak 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 Kodiak?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kodiak leans strongly male. 543 people counted with this name were male (94.8%), compared with 30 female bearers (5.2%). 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 Kodiak?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kodiak is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.7%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Kodiak most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kodiak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (440 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 Kodiak in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kodiak a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kodiak 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 Kodiak still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kodiak 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 Kodiak 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 Kodiak?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Kodiak on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.