Khori
A masculine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "to choose, choose life".
Name Census estimates that about 817 living Americans carry the first name Khori. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Khori today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Khori births was 2017 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Khori. 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.
People living today
817
~ 1 in 419,528 Americans
Peak year
2017
74 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,942
Tracked since 1991
Census
Khori in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 571 people with the first name Khori, which placed it at #18,776 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
#18,776
National first-name rank
People counted
571
571 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Khori
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khori is Black at 79.9%. The next largest groups are White (10.7%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Khori 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 Khori at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.9% · 456
- White10.7% · 61
- Two or more races6.3% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Khori
Khori leans heavily female at 82.2% of total registrations, but 147 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Khori as a male name
- Ranked #9,439 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (13 births)
Khori as a female name
- Ranked #4,942 in 2024
- 27 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (74 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Khori on both sides of the split. Of the 565 people counted with this name, 168 were male (29.7%) and 397 were female (70.3%).
Popularity
Khori: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Khori 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 418 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Khori remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Khori 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 Khori during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Khoris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Maryland, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Khori, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Khori
The name Khori has its origins in the ancient Persian language, dating back to the 6th century BC. It is derived from the Persian word "khor," which means "sun" or "radiant." The name was commonly used in the region that is now modern-day Iran and parts of Central Asia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Khori can be found in the Achaemenid inscriptions, which were carved on the walls of the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis. These inscriptions, which date back to the 5th century BC, mention a nobleman named Khori who served in the court of King Darius the Great.
In the 3rd century BC, the name Khori appeared in the Zoroastrian religious texts known as the Avesta. These texts describe Khori as a benevolent spirit associated with the sun and light, reflecting the name's connection to the celestial body.
During the Sassanid Empire, which ruled over Persia from the 3rd to the 7th century AD, the name Khori became more widespread. One notable figure from this period was Khori Bahram, a celebrated poet and scholar who lived in the 6th century AD. His works, which celebrated the glory of the Persian Empire, have been preserved and are still studied by scholars today.
In the 10th century AD, a Persian mathematician and astronomer named Khori al-Biruni gained fame for his groundbreaking work in the field of trigonometry and his studies of the Indian subcontinent. His books, such as "The Chronology of Ancient Nations" and "The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology," were widely influential in the Islamic world.
Another notable figure with the name Khori was the 14th-century Persian painter and calligrapher, Khori Ghiyas al-Din. He was renowned for his intricate miniature paintings and his mastery of the intricate Persian calligraphic styles, particularly the Naskh and Muhaqqaq scripts.
Throughout history, the name Khori has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions to various fields, from literature and the arts to science and mathematics. Its ancient Persian roots and connection to the sun and light have given the name a sense of radiance and enlightenment.
People
Khori + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Khori 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
Khori: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Khori?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 817 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Khori 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 419,528 US residents.
Is Khori a common name?
We classify Khori as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 825 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Khori most popular?
The single biggest year for Khori was 2017, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Khori is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Khori in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 571 people with the name Khori, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,776 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 Khori 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 Khori?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Khori on both sides of the split. Of the 565 people counted with this name, 168 were male (29.7%) and 397 were female (70.3%). 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 Khori?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khori is Black at 79.9%. The next largest groups are White (10.7%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Khori most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Khori in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (456 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 Khori in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Khori a female name?
Yes, 82.2% of people registered as Khori 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 Khori still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Khori 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 Khori 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 Khori as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Khori on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.