Kelia
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "The Pleiades".
Name Census estimates that about 999 living Americans carry the first name Kelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kelia today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kelia births was 1993 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kelia. 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 Kelia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
999
~ 1 in 343,097 Americans
Peak year
1993
35 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,354
Tracked since 1960
Census
Kelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 919 people with the first name Kelia, which placed it at #13,223 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
#13,223
National first-name rank
People counted
919
919 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelia is Black at 41.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.3%) and Hispanic (18.0%). 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 Kelia 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 Kelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.9% · 385
- White24.3% · 223
- Hispanic or Latino18.0% · 165
- Two or more races9.5% · 87
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 5
Popularity
Kelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kelia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 293 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kelia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kelia 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 Kelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kelias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Hawaii, California, New York recorded the most babies named Kelia, while New York, California, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kelia
The given name Kelia is believed to have its origins in the Hawaiian language and culture. The name is derived from the Hawaiian word "keli'i," which means "chief" or "leader." This suggests that the name Kelia may have been associated with nobility or positions of authority in ancient Hawaiian society.
While the exact time period when the name first emerged is unclear, it is likely that it has been in use for several centuries, as Hawaiian culture and language have a rich history dating back to the earliest settlements on the islands.
In ancient Hawaiian legends and oral traditions, there are references to individuals bearing the name Kelia or variations of it. However, specific historical records or texts mentioning the name are scarce due to the primarily oral nature of Hawaiian culture before Western contact.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kelia can be found in the 19th century, when it was borne by Kelia Wilcox (1854-1935), a prominent figure in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. She was a member of the Hawaiian Patriotic League and played an active role in advocating for the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Another notable individual with the name Kelia was Kelia Moniz (1897-1975), a Hawaiian musician and composer. She was renowned for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Hawaiian music, and her compositions are still widely performed today.
In the realm of sports, Kelia Moniz (born 1993) is a professional surfer from Hawaii. She has competed in numerous World Surf League events and has been a prominent figure in the surfing community, showcasing the athletic and adventurous spirit associated with the Hawaiian culture.
Kelia Shelton-Pedersen (born 1976) is an American television personality and former model. She gained recognition for her role as a host on various reality shows and has also been involved in philanthropic endeavors.
Lastly, Kelia Maa (born 1983) is a Hawaiian actress and producer known for her work in films and television shows, including her role in the popular series "Hawaii Five-0." Her career highlights the ongoing influence and representation of Hawaiian culture in the entertainment industry.
While the name Kelia may have originated in the Hawaiian language and culture, it has since been adopted and used by individuals from various backgrounds, carrying with it the essence of leadership, nobility, and connection to the rich heritage of the Hawaiian Islands.
People
Kelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kelia 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
Kelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 999 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kelia 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 343,097 US residents.
Is Kelia a common name?
We classify Kelia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,040 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Kelia was 1993, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kelia is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 919 people with the name Kelia, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,223 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 Kelia 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 Kelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 923 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 Kelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelia is Black at 41.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.3%) and Hispanic (18.0%). 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 Kelia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.9% (385 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 Kelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kelia 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 Kelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kelia 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 Kelia 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 are called Kelia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.