Kadi
A feminine Arabic name meaning "one who suffers".
Name Census estimates that about 924 living Americans carry the first name Kadi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kadi today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kadi births was 1989 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kadi. 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 Kadi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
924
~ 1 in 370,946 Americans
Peak year
1989
43 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,242
Tracked since 1975
Census
Kadi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 998 people with the first name Kadi, which placed it at #12,453 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
#12,453
National first-name rank
People counted
998
998 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kadi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kadi is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Kadi 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 Kadi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.9% · 777
- Black or African American11.4% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 46
- Two or more races3.5% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 5
Popularity
Kadi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kadi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 334 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kadi 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 Kadi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kadis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Missouri recorded the most babies named Kadi, while Ohio, Missouri, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kadi
The name Kadi is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with roots dating back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Arabic word "qadi," which means "judge" or "administrator of justice." This suggests that the name may have been associated with individuals who held positions of authority or played a significant role in the judicial system during the early Islamic era.
In the historical records of the Islamic world, there are several notable figures who bore the name Kadi. One of the earliest recorded examples is Kadi Iyad, a renowned Maliki scholar and judge who lived in Granada, Spain, during the 12th century (1083-1149 CE). He is widely recognized for his contributions to Islamic jurisprudence and his influential work, "Al-Shifa," a biographical account of the Prophet Muhammad.
Another prominent figure was Kadi Burhanuddin, a 13th-century Islamic scholar and jurist from Tirmidh (present-day Uzbekistan). He authored several works on Islamic law and theology, including the celebrated "Al-Wiqayah," a comprehensive treatise on Hanafi jurisprudence.
In the realm of literature, Kadi Nur al-Din al-Halabi stands out as a prominent Syrian poet and writer from the 16th century (1492-1563 CE). He is best known for his poetic masterpiece, "Diwan al-Halabi," a collection of verses that celebrated love, nature, and Islamic spirituality.
Moving forward in history, Kadi Ali Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and Grand Vizier, played a significant role in the Ottoman Empire during the late 16th and early 17th centuries (1541-1609 CE). He is credited with implementing various administrative reforms and overseeing the construction of notable architectural works in Istanbul.
Lastly, a more recent figure is Kadi Burhan al-Din Khan, a prominent Afghan politician and diplomat who served as the Prime Minister of Afghanistan in the early 20th century (1858-1933 CE). He played a crucial role in establishing diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and several European nations during his tenure.
The name Kadi, with its rich historical roots and association with influential figures from the Islamic world, continues to be used across various cultures and regions, carrying a sense of authority, scholarship, and leadership.
People
Kadi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kadi 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
Kadi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kadi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 924 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kadi 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 370,946 US residents.
Is Kadi a common name?
We classify Kadi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 954 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kadi most popular?
The single biggest year for Kadi was 1989, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kadi is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kadi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 998 people with the name Kadi, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,453 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 Kadi 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 Kadi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kadi leans strongly female. 969 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 27 male bearers (2.7%). 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 Kadi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kadi is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Kadi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kadi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.9% (777 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 Kadi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kadi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kadi 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 Kadi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kadi 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 Kadi 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 Kadi?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Kadi at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.