Kaeli
A feminine name of Irish/Gaelic origin meaning "slender".
Name Census estimates that about 3,031 living Americans carry the first name Kaeli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaeli today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaeli births was 2023 (430 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaeli. 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 Kaeli with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 113,083 Americans
Peak year
2023
430 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#769
Tracked since 1982
Census
Kaeli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,982 people with the first name Kaeli, which placed it at #7,628 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
#7,628
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,982 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaeli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaeli is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Kaeli 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 Kaeli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.4% · 1,376
- Hispanic or Latino11.9% · 236
- Two or more races8.6% · 171
- Black or African American5.3% · 105
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 73
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 21
Popularity
Kaeli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaeli from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 929 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaeli 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 Kaeli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaelis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Kaeli, while South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaeli
The given name Kaeli originated from the Old Norse language and culture, traced back to the Viking Age of the 8th to 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old Norse word "kali," which means "calm" or "peaceful." The name was commonly found in Scandinavia and parts of Northern Europe during this period.
Kaeli is believed to have first appeared in ancient Norse sagas and legends, which were oral traditions passed down through generations. However, there are no specific recorded texts or scriptures that mention the name directly from that era.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kaeli dates back to the 12th century, when a Norwegian warrior named Kaeli Thorvaldsson was mentioned in the Icelandic sagas. He was said to have fought bravely in the battles against the Danes and was known for his calm and composed demeanor on the battlefield.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Kaeli Halvorsdottir was a respected healer and herbalist in the Norwegian fjords. She was renowned for her knowledge of medicinal plants and her ability to provide calm and reassuring care to her patients.
During the Viking era, the name Kaeli was also associated with the Norse god Baldr, who was known for his gentle and peaceful nature. Some scholars believe that the name may have been given to children in hopes that they would embody similar qualities.
Throughout history, there have been several other notable individuals with the name Kaeli:
1. Kaeli Sigurdsson (1185 - 1259), a respected Norse navigator and explorer who sailed to Greenland and is believed to have reached the coast of North America.
2. Kaeli Gunnarsdottir (1320 - 1390), a celebrated Icelandic poet and storyteller known for her peaceful and introspective verse.
3. Kaeli Johannesson (1530 - 1602), a Swedish diplomat and peacemaker who helped negotiate important treaties and alliances during the Northern European conflicts of the 16th century.
4. Kaeli Larsdottir (1650 - 1718), a Norwegian artist renowned for her serene landscape paintings and the calming presence they evoked.
5. Kaeli Thorvaldsson (1810 - 1878), a Danish philosopher and scholar who wrote extensively about the principles of non-violence and peaceful coexistence.
While the name Kaeli has its roots in ancient Norse culture, it has maintained a presence throughout history, often associated with qualities of tranquility, composure, and a peaceful disposition.
People
Kaeli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaeli 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
Kaeli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaeli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,031 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaeli 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 113,083 US residents.
Is Kaeli a common name?
We classify Kaeli as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,086 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaeli most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaeli was 2023, when 430 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaeli is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaeli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,982 people with the name Kaeli, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,628 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 Kaeli 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 Kaeli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaeli appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,979 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kaeli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaeli is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Kaeli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaeli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (1,376 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 Kaeli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaeli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaeli 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 Kaeli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaeli 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 Kaeli 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 many people have Kaeli as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.