Kijana
A Swahili masculine name meaning "youth".
Name Census estimates that about 388 living Americans carry the first name Kijana. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Kijana today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kijana births was 1995 (136 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kijana. 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
388
~ 1 in 883,387 Americans
Peak year
1995
136 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2002 SSA rank
#11,684
Tracked since 1970
Census
Kijana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 388 people with the first name Kijana, which placed it at #24,718 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
#24,718
National first-name rank
People counted
388
388 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kijana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kijana is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and White (7.5%). 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 Kijana 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 Kijana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.1% · 303
- Two or more races8.5% · 33
- White7.5% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Kijana
Kijana is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 401 total registrations, 264 (65.8%) were male and 137 (34.2%) were female.
Kijana as a male name
- Ranked #11,684 in 2002
- 5 male births in 2002
- Peak: 1995 (98 births)
Kijana as a female name
- Ranked #19,099 in 2008
- 5 female births in 2008
- Peak: 1995 (38 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kijana on both sides of the split. Of the 380 people counted with this name, 216 were male (56.8%) and 164 were female (43.2%).
Popularity
Kijana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kijana from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 297 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
Kijana 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 Kijana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kijanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Kijana, while North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kijana
The name Kijana has its origins in the Swahili language, spoken primarily in East Africa. It is derived from the Swahili word "kijana," which means "young man" or "youth." The name likely emerged in the regions where Swahili is spoken, such as Kenya, Tanzania, and parts of Uganda, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kijana is a relatively modern name, and there are no known ancient texts or historical records that mention it specifically. However, the Swahili language itself has a rich history, with roots tracing back to the 7th century AD, when Arab traders and settlers began to interact with the Bantu peoples of East Africa.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kijana was Kijana Shihiri, a Tanzanian politician and activist who was born in 1920. He played a significant role in the independence movement of Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and later served as a member of parliament in the newly independent nation.
Another notable figure with the name Kijana was Kijana Wamalwa, a Kenyan politician who served as the Vice President of Kenya from 2003 until his death in 2003. He was born in 1944 and was a prominent member of the Democratic Party in Kenya.
In the realm of sports, Kijana Lewis is a former American football player who played as a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) from 1992 to 2001. He was born in 1970 and played for teams such as the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks.
The name Kijana has also been used in literature and popular culture. Kijana Nkrumah is a fictional character in the novel "The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born" by Ghanaian author Ayi Kwei Armah, published in 1968. The character's name is a reference to the Swahili meaning of "youth" and the former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah.
Lastly, Kijana Tyo is a renowned artist and sculptor from Cameroon, known for his intricate wood carvings and sculptures. He was born in 1958 and has exhibited his work internationally, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of his home country.
These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and fields in which individuals with the name Kijana have made their mark, reflecting the name's connection to East African culture and the Swahili language.
People
Kijana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kijana 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
Kijana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kijana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 388 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kijana 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 883,387 US residents.
Is Kijana a common name?
We classify Kijana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 401 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kijana most popular?
The single biggest year for Kijana was 1995, when 136 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kijana is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kijana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 388 people with the name Kijana, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,718 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 Kijana 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 Kijana?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kijana on both sides of the split. Of the 380 people counted with this name, 216 were male (56.8%) and 164 were female (43.2%). 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 Kijana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kijana is Black at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and White (7.5%). 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 Kijana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kijana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (303 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 Kijana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kijana a male name?
Yes, 65.8% of people registered as Kijana 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 Kijana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kijana 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 Kijana 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 Kijana?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.