Kore
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "young maiden".
Name Census estimates that about 87 living Americans carry the first name Kore. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Kore today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kore births was 2005 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kore. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kore. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
87
~ 1 in 3,939,705 Americans
Peak year
2005
10 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,461
Tracked since 1977
Census
Kore in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 261 people with the first name Kore, which placed it at #32,310 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
#32,310
National first-name rank
People counted
261
261 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kore
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kore is White at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Kore 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 Kore at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.1% · 136
- Black or African American28.4% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 22
- Two or more races5.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.4% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Kore
Kore leans heavily male at 86.5% of total registrations, but 12 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kore as a male name
- Ranked #13,461 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2005 (10 births)
Kore as a female name
- Ranked #14,346 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2021 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kore on both sides of the split. Of the 263 people counted with this name, 176 were male (66.9%) and 87 were female (33.1%).
Popularity
Kore: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kore from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 28 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kore remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kore 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 Kore during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kore
The name Kore originates from ancient Greek, where it was the name given to the goddess Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. The name is derived from the Greek word "kore," meaning "maiden" or "young girl." It was a common epithet used for unmarried girls in ancient Greece.
In Greek mythology, Kore was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld, and became his wife, taking on the name Persephone. This myth symbolized the cycle of life and the changing seasons, with Kore's descent into the underworld representing winter and her return to her mother representing spring.
The name Kore appears in various ancient Greek texts, including the Homeric Hymns and the works of Hesiod, dating back to the 8th century BCE. It was also a popular name for girls in ancient Greece, as evidenced by its appearance on inscriptions and pottery.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kore is found in the writings of the Greek poet Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos in the 6th century BCE. Sappho wrote poems dedicated to various Kores, which were likely young women she knew or admired.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kore. For instance, Kore of Cyzicus was a Greek painter who lived in the 7th century BCE and is considered one of the earliest known female artists in ancient Greece.
Another notable Kore was the Greek lyric poet Korinna, who lived in the 5th century BCE and is known for her poetry celebrating the heroic deeds of women. Her works were highly regarded in ancient times, but only fragments have survived.
In the Renaissance period, the Italian painter Raphael (1483-1520) created a famous fresco known as "The Sistine Madonna," which features a young girl holding an inscription with the name "Kore."
More recently, Kore Yamazaki (1919-2011) was a Japanese novelist and essayist who wrote extensively about the experiences of women in modern Japan. Her works explored themes of love, family, and the challenges faced by women in a rapidly changing society.
Lastly, Kore Cedra Liddell (born 1985) is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in films such as "The Hunger Games" and "Pitch Perfect 2." She has also released several albums and continues to work in both music and acting.
People
Kore + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kore 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
Kore: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kore?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kore 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 3,939,705 US residents.
Is Kore a common name?
We classify Kore as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 89 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kore most popular?
The single biggest year for Kore was 2005, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kore is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kore in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 261 people with the name Kore, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,310 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 Kore 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 Kore?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kore on both sides of the split. Of the 263 people counted with this name, 176 were male (66.9%) and 87 were female (33.1%). 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 Kore?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kore is White at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Kore most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kore in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.1% (136 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 Kore in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kore a male name?
Yes, 86.5% of people registered as Kore 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 Kore still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kore 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 Kore 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 Kore?
You can see how many people have the name Kore on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.