Kayra
A unisex name of Arabic origin meaning "noble" or "moon".
Name Census estimates that about 823 living Americans carry the first name Kayra. It is a predominantly female name (95.8% of registrations). The average person named Kayra today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kayra births was 2023 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kayra. 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 Kayra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
823
~ 1 in 416,469 Americans
Peak year
2023
55 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,913
Tracked since 1977
Census
Kayra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 768 people with the first name Kayra, which placed it at #15,091 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
#15,091
National first-name rank
People counted
768
768 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
40.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kayra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayra is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.2%) and Black (11.6%). 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 Kayra 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 Kayra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino40.5% · 311
- White35.2% · 270
- Black or African American11.6% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 61
- Two or more races4.4% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Kayra
Kayra leans heavily female at 95.8% of total registrations, but 35 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kayra as a male name
- Ranked #8,638 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (10 births)
Kayra as a female name
- Ranked #3,913 in 2024
- 38 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (45 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kayra leans strongly female. 721 people counted with this name were female (94.1%), compared with 45 male bearers (5.9%).
Popularity
Kayra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kayra from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 287 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kayra remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kayra 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 Kayra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kayras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Kayra, while Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kayra
The name Kayra has its origins in the Sanskrit language, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have emerged around the 5th century BCE during the Vedic period of ancient India. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "Kira," which means "ray of light" or "radiant one."
In the ancient Hindu texts, Kayra is mentioned as the name of a minor deity associated with the sun and its radiant energy. This connection to celestial bodies and the symbolism of light suggests that the name may have been bestowed upon individuals born during auspicious solar events or those deemed to possess a luminous and radiant essence.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Kayra can be found in the Mahabharata, a ancient Sanskrit epic dating back to the 8th or 9th century BCE. In this text, Kayra is presented as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava brothers in the legendary Kurukshetra War.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kayra. One of the most famous was Kayra Devi (1050-1115 CE), a princess from the Chalukya dynasty who was renowned for her patronage of the arts and her dedication to the promotion of Sanskrit literature.
Another prominent figure was Kayra Mishra (1456-1524 CE), a Hindu scholar and poet who authored numerous works on philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics. His treatise on the principles of astrology, titled "Kayra Siddhanta," is considered a seminal work in the field.
In the realm of spirituality, Kayra Nath (1765-1848 CE) was a revered Hindu mystic and saint who founded the Kayra Panthi sect, which emphasizes devotion to the divine and the pursuit of inner enlightenment.
Moving into more modern times, Kayra Narayanan (1920-2005 CE) was an influential Indian diplomat and statesman who served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1976 to 1977.
Lastly, Kayra Mukherjee (1943-2021 CE) was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer who made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of the Kathak dance form.
People
Kayra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kayra 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
Kayra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kayra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 823 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kayra 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 416,469 US residents.
Is Kayra a common name?
We classify Kayra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 834 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kayra most popular?
The single biggest year for Kayra was 2023, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kayra is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kayra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 768 people with the name Kayra, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,091 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 Kayra 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 Kayra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kayra leans strongly female. 721 people counted with this name were female (94.1%), compared with 45 male bearers (5.9%). 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 Kayra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayra is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.2%) and Black (11.6%). 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 Kayra most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Kayra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.5% (311 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 Kayra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kayra a female name?
Yes, 95.8% of people registered as Kayra 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 Kayra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kayra 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 Kayra 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 Kayra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.