Kyliah
Of unknown origin and modern invention, a feminine name popularized in the late 20th century.
Name Census estimates that about 454 living Americans carry the first name Kyliah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kyliah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyliah births was 2009 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyliah. 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
454
~ 1 in 754,966 Americans
Peak year
2009
29 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,041
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Kyliah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyliah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 189 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kyliah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyliah 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 Kyliah 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 Kyliah
The name Kyliah is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name Keilah, which means "fortress" or "stronghold." The name traces its roots back to ancient times, appearing in the Old Testament as the name of a town in the Judean hills.
In the Bible, Keilah was the city where David sought refuge from King Saul, who was pursuing him relentlessly. This event is recorded in the Book of Samuel, where David inquired of the Lord whether the people of Keilah would deliver him to Saul, and the Lord affirmed that they would. This biblical reference lends a sense of strength and resilience to the name Kyliah.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kyliah can be found in ancient Hebrew texts, where it was occasionally used as a feminine name variant of Keilah. However, it was not until much later that the name gained wider popularity, particularly in English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Kyliah was Kyliah ben Avraham, a renowned Jewish scholar who lived in the 12th century in Provence, France. He was known for his expertise in biblical exegesis and his contributions to the study of the Talmud.
Another notable figure with the name Kyliah was Kyliah al-Andalusi, a Muslim philosopher and scientist from Andalusia, Spain, who lived in the 11th century. She made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy, and her works were influential in the development of these disciplines in the Islamic world.
In more recent history, Kyliah Mbowe was a Tanzanian politician and activist who played a pivotal role in the country's independence movement in the mid-20th century. She was a prominent advocate for women's rights and served as a member of the Tanzanian parliament from 1965 to 1980.
Another notable figure was Kyliah Nkrumah, a Ghanaian writer and academic who was the daughter of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. She was an influential voice in the Pan-African movement and wrote extensively on issues of race, identity, and African diaspora.
Lastly, Kyliah Arasaratnam was a Sri Lankan activist and human rights defender who dedicated her life to promoting peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of the country's civil war. She founded several organizations focused on building bridges between communities and advocating for the rights of marginalized groups.
People
Kyliah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyliah 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
Kyliah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyliah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 454 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyliah 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 754,966 US residents.
Is Kyliah a common name?
We classify Kyliah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 459 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyliah most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyliah was 2009, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyliah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kyliah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kyliah 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.
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.