Kumari
A feminine given name of Sanskrit origin meaning "princess" or "young girl".
Name Census estimates that about 156 living Americans carry the first name Kumari. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Kumari today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kumari births was 2007 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kumari. 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 Kumari with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
156
~ 1 in 2,197,143 Americans
Peak year
2007
17 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,251
Tracked since 1978
Census
Kumari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 801 people with the first name Kumari, which placed it at #14,645 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
#14,645
National first-name rank
People counted
801
801 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kumari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kumari is Asian/Pacific Islander at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.6%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Kumari 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 Kumari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander66.7% · 534
- Black or African American19.6% · 157
- Two or more races5.2% · 42
- White4.1% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Kumari
Kumari is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 158 total registrations, 36 (22.8%) were male and 122 (77.2%) were female.
Kumari as a male name
- Ranked #13,251 in 2019
- 5 male births in 2019
- Peak: 2006 (8 births)
Kumari as a female name
- Ranked #16,995 in 2018
- 5 female births in 2018
- Peak: 2007 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kumari leans strongly female. 719 people counted with this name were female (90.3%), compared with 77 male bearers (9.7%).
Popularity
Kumari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kumari from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 80 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kumari 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 Kumari 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 Kumari
The name Kumari has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient classical language of the Indian subcontinent. The word "kumari" is derived from the Sanskrit word "kumara," which means "virgin" or "unmarried girl." It is believed to have first emerged around the 1st millennium BCE during the Vedic period in ancient India.
In Hindu mythology, Kumari is often associated with the goddess Durga or Kali, who is revered as the divine mother and the embodiment of shakti, or feminine energy. The name is also linked to the concept of Kumari Puja, a ritual worship of pre-pubescent girls who are considered to be living embodiments of the divine feminine.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kumari can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures known as the Puranas, which date back to the 3rd or 4th century CE. These texts often mention Kumari in the context of goddesses and divine feminine figures.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kumari. One of the earliest examples is Kumari Kandam, a Tamil Sangam period poet who lived around the 3rd century CE and is considered one of the most influential female poets in ancient Tamil literature.
Another notable figure was Kumari Maychen Dolma (1675-1704), a Tibetan Buddhist princess and spiritual leader who played a significant role in the establishment of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.
In the 19th century, Kumari Devi (1835-1903) was a prominent Indian social reformer and educator who worked towards improving the education and status of women in colonial India.
Kumari Sahaya (1906-1953), born in British India, was a renowned classical dancer and choreographer who helped revive and popularize the Kathak dance form in the 20th century.
More recently, Kumari Taki (1924-2008) was a celebrated Japanese artist and sculptor known for her intricate wood carvings and sculptures, many of which depicted Buddhist themes and imagery.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kumari, a name that has been deeply rooted in the cultural traditions and mythology of the Indian subcontinent for millennia.
People
Kumari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kumari 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
Kumari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kumari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 156 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kumari 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 2,197,143 US residents.
Is Kumari a common name?
We classify Kumari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 158 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kumari most popular?
The single biggest year for Kumari was 2007, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kumari is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kumari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 801 people with the name Kumari, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,645 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 Kumari 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 Kumari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kumari leans strongly female. 719 people counted with this name were female (90.3%), compared with 77 male bearers (9.7%). 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 Kumari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kumari is Asian/Pacific Islander at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.6%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Kumari most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kumari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (534 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 Kumari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kumari a female name?
Yes, 77.2% of people registered as Kumari 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 Kumari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kumari 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 Kumari 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 Kumari?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Kumari at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.