Khayla
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "friend" or "companion".
Name Census estimates that about 789 living Americans carry the first name Khayla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Khayla today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Khayla births was 2000 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Khayla. 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 Khayla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
789
~ 1 in 434,416 Americans
Peak year
2000
59 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2020 SSA rank
#16,359
Tracked since 1987
Census
Khayla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 711 people with the first name Khayla, which placed it at #16,004 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
#16,004
National first-name rank
People counted
711
711 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Khayla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khayla is Black at 66.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.4%) and White (10.4%). 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 Khayla 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 Khayla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.1% · 470
- Hispanic or Latino11.4% · 81
- White10.4% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.2% · 44
- Two or more races5.1% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Popularity
Khayla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Khayla from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 353 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Khayla 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 Khayla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Khaylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Khayla, while Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Khayla
The name Khayla has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, originating in the Middle East during the medieval period. It is derived from the Arabic word "khayyal," which means "imagination" or "fantasy," suggesting a connection to creativity and imagination.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Khayla can be found in the famous Arabic literary work "One Thousand and One Nights," also known as "The Arabian Nights." In this collection of Middle Eastern folk tales, Khayla was the name of a character renowned for her storytelling abilities and vivid imagination.
Throughout history, the name Khayla has been associated with several notable figures. One of the earliest was Khayla bint Jafar al-Khalili, a renowned 9th-century Arab poet and scholar from Baghdad. Her poetic works were widely celebrated and contributed significantly to the literary landscape of the Abbasid era.
Another prominent individual bearing the name Khayla was Khayla bint al-Azhar, a 12th-century Andalusian princess and patron of the arts. She was known for her support of poets, musicians, and artists, and her court in Seville was a hub of cultural and intellectual activity during the Golden Age of Islamic Spain.
In the 14th century, Khayla al-Dimashqiyya was a renowned Syrian calligrapher and illuminator. Her exquisite calligraphic works adorned manuscripts and architectural structures, and she is considered one of the most accomplished calligraphers of the Mamluk period.
Moving forward in time, Khayla al-Kurdi was a 19th-century Kurdish poet and activist from the Ottoman Empire. Her poetry often addressed themes of freedom, justice, and women's rights, making her a pioneering voice in the region's literary and social movements.
Lastly, Khayla Chatti was a 20th-century Tunisian singer and actress renowned for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Tunisian music. Her performances and recordings helped to preserve the rich musical heritage of her country.
These historical figures, spanning centuries and regions, exemplify the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments associated with the name Khayla, reflecting its Arabic origins and the creativity, artistry, and intellectual pursuits it has come to symbolize.
People
Khayla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Khayla 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
Khayla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Khayla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 789 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Khayla 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 434,416 US residents.
Is Khayla a common name?
We classify Khayla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 808 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Khayla most popular?
The single biggest year for Khayla was 2000, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Khayla 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 Khayla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 711 people with the name Khayla, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,004 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 Khayla 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 Khayla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Khayla appears almost entirely female. Of the 710 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Khayla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khayla is Black at 66.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.4%) and White (10.4%). 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 Khayla most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Khayla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.1% (470 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 Khayla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Khayla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Khayla 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 Khayla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Khayla 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 Khayla 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 Khayla?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.