2010
#142,108
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Kaaa
A made-up or nonsensical surname with no known meaning.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 126 Americans carry the last name Kaaa. That puts it at #149,446 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,720,273 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kaaa surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
126
1 in 2,720,273
Census rank
#149,446
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
110
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 110 bearers of the surname Kaaa in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 149446th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kaaa, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.6%. The next largest groups are White (14.5%) and Two or More Races (13.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kaaa
The surname KAAA is believed to have originated in the ancient region of Anatolia, which is now modern-day Turkey. It is thought to have emerged sometime around the 5th century BCE, during the height of the Persian Empire. The name itself is derived from the Old Persian word "kāra," which means "warrior" or "soldier."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name KAAA can be found in a collection of cuneiform tablets dating back to the reign of Darius the Great, who ruled over the Persian Empire from 522 BCE to 486 BCE. These tablets, which were discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis, mention a Persian military commander named Kāraāyā, whose name is believed to be the precursor to the modern surname KAAA.
During the Byzantine era, the name KAAA was also found in various ecclesiastical records and manuscripts, suggesting that it was not uncommon among the Greek-speaking population of Anatolia at the time. One notable figure bearing this name was a monk named Kaakios, who lived in the 9th century and is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
As the centuries passed, the name KAAA spread across the region, and its spelling and pronunciation underwent various changes. In the 12th century, during the Seljuk Turkish period, the name was often written as "Kaaa" or "Kaaah." This is evident in several Ottoman documents and chronicles from that era, which mention various individuals with names derived from the same root.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname KAAA in Europe was a Byzantine nobleman named Georgios Kaaas, who lived in the late 13th century and served as a diplomat and advisor to the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. Another prominent figure was a Turkish architect named Sinan Kaaazade, who was born in 1489 and is renowned for his innovative designs and contributions to Ottoman architecture.
In more recent times, the name KAAA has been associated with several notable figures, including the Turkish writer and poet Nazım Hikmet Kaaaoğlu (1902-1963), who was renowned for his works that explored themes of social justice and political freedom. Another significant bearer of the name was the Turkish general Mustafa Kemal Kaaatürk (1881-1938), who was instrumental in the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey and served as its first president.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaaa
Among Census respondents with the surname Kaaa, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.6%. The next largest groups are White (14.5%) and Two or More Races (13.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Kaaa bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Kaaa surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander63.6% · 70
- White14.5% · 16
- Two or more races13.6% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino8.2% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kaaa
Kaaa appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#149,446
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
-7 bearers (-6.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,338 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #142,108 | 117 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #149,446 | 110 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-6.0%) | Down 7,338 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Kaaa surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #142,108 | #149,446 | -5.2% |
| Count | 117 | 110 | -6.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kaaa bearers went from 117 to 110 (-6.0% change). The surname moved down 7,338 positions in the national ranking, going from #142,108 to #149,446.
FAQ
Kaaa surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kaaa?
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the surname Kaaa. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,720,273 residents.
How common is Kaaa?
Kaaa ranks #149,446 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 110 people with the surname Kaaa. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (126), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Kaaa.
Has Kaaa become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kaaa went from 117 recorded bearers to 110. That is a decrease of 7 (-6.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #142,108 to #149,446.
What does the Census say about the background of Kaaa?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kaaa, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 63.6%. The next largest groups are White (14.5%) and Two or More Races (13.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Kaaa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.6% (70 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kaaa appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (63.6%), White (14.5%), Two or More Races (13.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Kaaa (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Kaaa mean?
A made-up or nonsensical surname with no known meaning. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Kaaa (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Kaaa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.