Kaliana
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "the heavenly one".
Name Census estimates that about 877 living Americans carry the first name Kaliana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaliana today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaliana births was 2018 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaliana. 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
877
~ 1 in 390,826 Americans
Peak year
2018
63 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,130
Tracked since 1997
Census
Kaliana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 588 people with the first name Kaliana, which placed it at #18,347 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
#18,347
National first-name rank
People counted
588
588 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaliana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaliana is White at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.8%) and Two or More Races (15.8%). 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 Kaliana 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 Kaliana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.7% · 251
- Hispanic or Latino22.8% · 134
- Two or more races15.8% · 93
- Black or African American12.6% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 9
Popularity
Kaliana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaliana from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 427 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kaliana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaliana 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 Kaliana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kalianas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kaliana, while Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaliana
The name Kaliana is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit words "kali," meaning "time" or "eternity," and "ana," meaning "breath" or "to breathe." The name is often interpreted to mean "eternal breath" or "breath of eternity."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Kaliana can be found in the ancient Hindu text, the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a celestial nymph or apsara. This reference suggests that the name was associated with divine beauty and grace in Indian mythology.
During the medieval period, the name Kaliana gained popularity in certain regions of India, particularly among Hindu communities. It was often given to girls as a symbol of longevity and a connection to the spiritual realm.
In the 12th century, a famous Indian poet and philosopher named Kaliana Mallik wrote several influential works on Vedanta philosophy and Hindu spirituality. His writings contributed to the spread and recognition of the name across the Indian subcontinent.
Another notable figure with the name Kaliana was Kaliana Devi, a 16th-century princess and patron of the arts from the Rajput kingdom of Mewar, located in present-day Rajasthan, India. She was known for her support of poets, musicians, and artists during her reign.
In the 19th century, Kaliana Banerjee was a prominent Bengali writer and social reformer who advocated for women's education and the abolition of the practice of child marriage in India. She published several works on these topics and was recognized for her contributions to the Bengali Renaissance.
More recently, in the 20th century, Kaliana Sithole was a South African activist and leader in the African National Congress (ANC) who fought against apartheid and racial segregation. She played a significant role in the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa.
While the name Kaliana has its roots in ancient India, it has since been adopted and used in various cultures and regions around the world, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation. However, its origins and historical significance remain deeply rooted in the rich cultural heritage of the Indian subcontinent.
People
Kaliana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaliana 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
Kaliana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaliana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 877 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaliana 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 390,826 US residents.
Is Kaliana a common name?
We classify Kaliana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 885 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaliana most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaliana was 2018, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaliana is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaliana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 588 people with the name Kaliana, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,347 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 Kaliana 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 Kaliana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaliana appears almost entirely female. Of the 590 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Kaliana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaliana is White at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.8%) and Two or More Races (15.8%). 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 Kaliana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaliana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.7% (251 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 Kaliana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaliana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaliana 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 Kaliana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaliana 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 Kaliana 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 share the name Kaliana?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Kaliana, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.