Kaysen
A variant spelling of the German name Kayser, originating from the Latin "Caesar".
Name Census estimates that about 6,240 living Americans carry the first name Kaysen. It is a predominantly male name (93.3% of registrations). The average person named Kaysen today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaysen births was 2022 (564 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaysen. 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 Kaysen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kaysen is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.2K
~ 1 in 54,929 Americans
Peak year
2022
564 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#597
Tracked since 1998
Census
Kaysen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,076 people with the first name Kaysen, which placed it at #5,540 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
#5,540
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,076 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaysen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaysen is White at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). 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 Kaysen 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 Kaysen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.0% · 1,784
- Black or African American18.1% · 556
- Two or more races10.3% · 317
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 295
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 39
Gender
Gender distribution for Kaysen
Kaysen leans heavily male at 93.3% of total registrations, but 421 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kaysen as a male name
- Ranked #597 in 2024
- 479 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (553 births)
Kaysen as a female name
- Ranked #6,771 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (38 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaysen leans strongly male. 2,733 people counted with this name were male (88.5%), compared with 356 female bearers (11.5%).
Popularity
Kaysen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaysen 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 3,228 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
Kaysen 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 Kaysen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaysens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Kaysen, while Montana, Delaware, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 115 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaysen
The name Kaysen is a relatively modern invention, with its origins likely dating back to the late 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names "Kay" and "Sen," both of which have distinct roots and meanings.
The name Kay is an English diminutive form of the name Katherine, which is derived from the Greek name Aikaterine. Aikaterine is composed of the elements "katharos" meaning "pure" and "haire" meaning "to take captive." Thus, the name Katherine, and by extension Kay, can be interpreted to mean "pure captive."
The second part of the name, "Sen," is likely derived from the Sanskrit word "sena," meaning "army" or "warrior." This Sanskrit root has also influenced various other names across different cultures, such as the Persian name "Senna" and the Japanese name "Sen."
While there are no known historical references or ancient texts that explicitly mention the name Kaysen, its components have a rich linguistic and cultural heritage. The earliest recorded use of the name Kaysen is relatively recent, with the first known instances appearing in the late 20th century.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Kaysen was the American writer Susanna Kaysen, born in 1948. She is best known for her memoir "Girl, Interrupted," which chronicles her experiences in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s.
Another notable person with the name Kaysen is the American filmmaker and writer Kaysen L. Enwright, born in 1979. Enwright is known for her work in the horror and thriller genres, including the films "The Covenant" and "The Awakening."
In the world of sports, Kaysen Werts is an American professional baseball player who was born in 1996 and currently plays in the Minor League Baseball system.
Kaysen Milligan is a Canadian actress and model, best known for her roles in the television series "The Umbrella Academy" and "Van Helsing." She was born in 1993.
Lastly, Kaysen Goncalo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC fighter, born in 1982. He competed in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) during the late 2000s and early 2010s.
While the name Kaysen may be relatively new, its components have rich linguistic and cultural histories that span different languages and regions. It has been embraced by individuals from diverse backgrounds, adding to its modern appeal and significance.
People
Kaysen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaysen 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
Kaysen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaysen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,240 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaysen 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 54,929 US residents.
Is Kaysen a common name?
We classify Kaysen as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,286 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaysen most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaysen was 2022, when 564 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaysen is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaysen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,076 people with the name Kaysen, or 1.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,540 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 Kaysen 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 Kaysen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaysen leans strongly male. 2,733 people counted with this name were male (88.5%), compared with 356 female bearers (11.5%). 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 Kaysen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaysen is White at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Two or More Races (10.3%). 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 Kaysen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaysen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.0% (1,784 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 Kaysen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaysen a male name?
Yes, 93.3% of people registered as Kaysen 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 Kaysen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaysen 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 Kaysen 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 the name Kaysen?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Kaysen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.