Kahari
A gender-neutral name of Native American origin meaning "life journey".
Name Census estimates that about 956 living Americans carry the first name Kahari. It is a predominantly male name (91.6% of registrations). The average person named Kahari today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kahari births was 2023 (121 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kahari. 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
956
~ 1 in 358,530 Americans
Peak year
2023
121 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,063
Tracked since 1990
Census
Kahari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 466 people with the first name Kahari, which placed it at #21,679 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
#21,679
National first-name rank
People counted
466
466 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kahari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kahari is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Kahari 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 Kahari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.8% · 409
- Two or more races5.4% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 20
- White1.7% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Kahari
Kahari leans heavily male at 91.6% of total registrations, but 81 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kahari as a male name
- Ranked #2,063 in 2024
- 73 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (110 births)
Kahari as a female name
- Ranked #8,139 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kahari leans strongly male. 401 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 66 female bearers (14.1%).
Popularity
Kahari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kahari from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 449 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
Kahari 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 Kahari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaharis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Kahari, while Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kahari
The name Kahari is believed to have its origins in the Swahili language, which is spoken by various Bantu peoples in East Africa, particularly in Kenya, Tanzania, and parts of neighbouring countries. The name is derived from the Swahili word "Kahara," which means "honour" or "dignity."
Swahili is a Bantu language that originated from other Niger-Congo languages spoken along the East African coast and its hinterland. The earliest recorded use of the name Kahari can be traced back to the 16th century, during the height of the Swahili coastal trading cities and their interactions with Arab and Persian merchants.
In ancient times, the name Kahari was likely bestowed upon individuals who exhibited traits of honour, integrity, and respect within their communities. It was a name that carried significant cultural and social significance, reflecting the values and traditions of the Swahili people.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kahari can be found in the 17th-century Swahili manuscript "Utendi wa Tambuka," which chronicles the epic journey of a Swahili merchant. In this text, the name is mentioned in connection with a prominent figure of that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kahari. One such figure was Kahari ibn Kahari, a renowned Swahili scholar and poet who lived in the late 16th century on the island of Pate, located off the coast of present-day Kenya. His works were highly influential in shaping the literary traditions of the Swahili culture.
Another notable bearer of the name was Kahari al-Bakri, a 12th-century Swahili explorer and merchant who is credited with establishing trade routes between East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. His travels and writings shed light on the commercial and cultural exchanges that took place during that era.
In the 18th century, Kahari ibn Abdallah was a respected Swahili ruler and diplomat from the town of Kilwa, known for his efforts in facilitating peaceful relations between various coastal cities and the interior regions of East Africa.
Moving into the 19th century, Kahari bin Juma was a prominent Swahili trader and philanthropist from Zanzibar, renowned for his generosity and contributions to the local community's welfare.
Lastly, Kahari Mtingwa was a 20th-century Swahili writer and educator from Tanzania, whose works played a significant role in preserving and promoting the Swahili language and cultural heritage.
People
Kahari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kahari 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
Kahari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kahari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 956 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kahari 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 358,530 US residents.
Is Kahari a common name?
We classify Kahari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 965 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kahari most popular?
The single biggest year for Kahari was 2023, when 121 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kahari is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kahari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 466 people with the name Kahari, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,679 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 Kahari 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 Kahari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kahari leans strongly male. 401 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 66 female bearers (14.1%). 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 Kahari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kahari is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Kahari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kahari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (409 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 Kahari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kahari a male name?
Yes, 91.6% of people registered as Kahari in the SSA data are male. 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 Kahari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kahari 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 Kahari 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 Americans are named Kahari?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.