Kana
Feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "the beautiful one".
Name Census estimates that about 849 living Americans carry the first name Kana. It is a predominantly female name (97.9% of registrations). The average person named Kana today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kana births was 2006 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kana. 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 Kana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
849
~ 1 in 403,715 Americans
Peak year
2006
27 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2011 SSA rank
#6,254
Tracked since 1956
Census
Kana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,339 people with the first name Kana, which placed it at #10,088 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
#10,088
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,339 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
56.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.3%) and Two or More Races (13.4%). 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 Kana 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 Kana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander56.8% · 761
- White18.3% · 245
- Two or more races13.4% · 179
- Black or African American6.9% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Kana
Kana leans heavily female at 97.9% of total registrations, but 18 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kana as a male name
- Ranked #11,562 in 2011
- 6 male births in 2011
- Peak: 2005 (6 births)
Kana as a female name
- Ranked #6,254 in 2024
- 19 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (27 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kana leans strongly female. 1,192 people counted with this name were female (88.8%), compared with 151 male bearers (11.2%).
Popularity
Kana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kana from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 227 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kana 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 Kana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Kana, while Illinois, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kana
The name Kana has its origins in various cultures and languages around the world. It is believed to have derived from the Japanese word "kana," which refers to the syllabic scripts used alongside the logographic kanji in written Japanese. The kana scripts, hiragana and katakana, are phonetic scripts that were developed to represent the Japanese language more accurately.
In Japanese culture, Kana is a unisex name that can be used for both boys and girls. It is often associated with the concepts of purity, simplicity, and elegance, reflecting the aesthetic principles of traditional Japanese art and literature.
Beyond its Japanese roots, the name Kana has also been found in various other cultures and contexts. In Sanskrit, the name Kana is derived from the word "kana," meaning "small" or "young." This connection suggests that the name may have been used to signify a sense of youth, innocence, or tender age.
Historically, the name Kana has been recorded in ancient texts and religious scriptures, though its exact origins remain obscure. One notable reference is found in the Buddhist scriptures, where the term "kana" is used to describe a type of celestial being or divine entity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the first name Kana. One of the earliest recorded examples is Kana no Naishi (995-1035), a Japanese court lady and poet of the Heian period, renowned for her contributions to the imperial anthology "Goshūi Wakashū."
Another significant figure is Kana Nishino (born in 1989), a Japanese singer, songwriter, and actress who has gained immense popularity for her music and acting roles in various Japanese television dramas and films.
In the realm of sports, Kana Ichikawa (born in 1992) is a Japanese professional tennis player who has achieved notable success on the WTA Tour, winning multiple singles and doubles titles.
Kana Tsugihara (born in 1984) is a Japanese actress and model known for her roles in various Japanese television series and movies, as well as her work as a fashion model.
Lastly, Kana Hanazawa (born in 1986) is a renowned Japanese voice actress who has lent her voice to numerous anime characters and has gained a significant following among anime fans worldwide.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Kana, each contributing to its rich cultural legacy and diverse meanings across various contexts.
People
Kana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kana 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
Kana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 849 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kana 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 403,715 US residents.
Is Kana a common name?
We classify Kana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 878 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kana most popular?
The single biggest year for Kana was 2006, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kana is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,339 people with the name Kana, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,088 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 Kana 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 Kana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kana leans strongly female. 1,192 people counted with this name were female (88.8%), compared with 151 male bearers (11.2%). 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 Kana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kana is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.3%) and Two or More Races (13.4%). 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 Kana most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.8% (761 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 Kana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kana a female name?
Yes, 97.9% of people registered as Kana 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 Kana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kana 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 Kana 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 Kana?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Kana at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.