Kuulei
A feminine Hawaiian name meaning "supreme, highest".
Name Census estimates that about 147 living Americans carry the first name Kuulei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kuulei today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kuulei births was 1993 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kuulei. 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
147
~ 1 in 2,331,662 Americans
Peak year
1993
11 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2013 SSA rank
#18,058
Tracked since 1975
Census
Kuulei in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 287 people with the first name Kuulei, which placed it at #30,385 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
#30,385
National first-name rank
People counted
287
287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kuulei
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kuulei is Asian/Pacific Islander at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (32.4%) and Hispanic (11.5%). 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 Kuulei 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 Kuulei at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander49.8% · 143
- Two or more races32.4% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino11.5% · 33
- White5.9% · 17
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
Popularity
Kuulei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kuulei from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kuulei 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 Kuulei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kuuleis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kuulei
The given name Kuulei is a Hawaiian name that originated in the Hawaiian Islands, a remote archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. It is believed to have been in use for centuries, dating back to the ancient Polynesian settlers of the islands.
The name Kuulei is derived from the Hawaiian words "kuu" meaning "my" and "lei" referring to the traditional Hawaiian flower garland. Thus, the literal translation of Kuulei is "my lei" or "my garland." This name likely originated as a term of endearment or affection, reflecting the deep cultural significance of lei in Hawaiian society.
While the name does not have any direct references in ancient Hawaiian texts or religious scriptures, it is deeply rooted in the rich cultural traditions of the Hawaiian people. The use of flower garlands, or lei, has been an integral part of Hawaiian ceremonies, celebrations, and daily life for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kuulei can be found in the late 18th century, when Captain James Cook and his crew made their historic voyage to the Hawaiian Islands. In the journals and accounts of Cook's expedition, there are mentions of Hawaiian individuals bearing the name Kuulei.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kuulei. Queen Kuulei Kanahele Makauakiu was a Hawaiian monarch who ruled the island of Kauai in the early 19th century. Princess Kuulei Kekuanaoa was a member of the Hawaiian royal family in the mid-19th century and played a significant role in the preservation of Hawaiian culture and traditions.
In the realm of Hawaiian music and dance, Kuulei Kekuaokalani was a renowned hula master and kumu hula (hula teacher) who helped to perpetuate the ancient art form in the 20th century. Kuulei Naluaikauuhele was a respected Hawaiian language scholar and educator who contributed to the revitalization of the Hawaiian language in the late 20th century.
Another notable figure was Kuulei Cummin, a Hawaiian activist and advocate for indigenous rights, who played a pivotal role in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement in the late 20th century.
While the name Kuulei has deep roots in Hawaiian culture, it has also gained popularity among non-Hawaiian communities in more recent times, reflecting the widespread appreciation for the beauty and significance of Hawaiian names and traditions.
People
Kuulei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kuulei 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
Kuulei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kuulei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 147 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kuulei 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 2,331,662 US residents.
Is Kuulei a common name?
We classify Kuulei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kuulei most popular?
The single biggest year for Kuulei was 1993, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kuulei is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kuulei in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 287 people with the name Kuulei, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,385 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 Kuulei 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 Kuulei?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kuulei leans strongly female. 276 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Kuulei?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kuulei is Asian/Pacific Islander at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (32.4%) and Hispanic (11.5%). 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 Kuulei most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kuulei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (143 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 Kuulei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kuulei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kuulei 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 Kuulei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kuulei 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 Kuulei 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 common is the name Kuulei?
See how many people have the name Kuulei on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.