How rare is the name Kala?

7,549 people in the United States have the first name Kala, about 1 in 40,009. It ranks #2,976 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

KALA

#2,976

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,549
About
1 in 40,009
This common or more
81.3%
Who bears it

Of the 7,549 people named Kala, 62.2% reported their origin as White, 17.3% as Black and 8.5% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 96.6% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Kala peaked in 1989, when 533 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19432025
Peak year
1989
Births that year
533
In 2025*
10 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 7,772 babies have been given the name since 1943. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Kala by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #1,206. The largest share of babies named Kala, 65.1%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1940s#6,92350
1950s#4,683149
1960s#3,507298
1970s#3,072475
1980s#1,2062,683
1990s#1,3212,996
2000s#3,904801
2010s#9,614231
2020s#12,57889
Silent Generation 1928–450.3%
Baby boom 1946–644.3%
Generation X 1965–808.6%
Millennials 1981–9665.1%
Generation Z 1997–1218.6%
2013 and later3.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Kala is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kala has been most common in Mississippi (2.5×), Tennessee (2.3×), and Alabama (2.3×), and least common in New York (0.4×).

5,300 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Kala

1 other first name also has 7,549 people.

#2,976 Odin · 7,549

Either side of Kala

#2,974 Aleksandra · 7,552#2,974 Kristofer · 7,552#2,976 Odin · 7,549#2,978 Shakira · 7,544

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kala, most common first.

#167 Kayla · 303,207#1,444 Kali · 23,482#2,130 Kaila · 12,533#3,023 Kale · 7,379#3,644 Kaela · 5,598#4,290 Kalia · 4,427#5,223 Kalea · 3,328#9,781 Kal · 1,401

Also a last name

As a last name, Kala ranks #31,504 of 156,621, with 787 people. See Kala as a last name

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