Koda
An Americanized invented name possibly inspired by the Sioux word "kodah" meaning friend or companion.
Name Census estimates that about 6,654 living Americans carry the first name Koda. It sits at #464 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (91.4% of registrations). The average person named Koda today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Koda births was 2023 (842 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Koda. 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 Koda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Koda 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
6.7K
~ 1 in 51,511 Americans
Peak year
2023
842 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#464
Tracked since 1984
Census
Koda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,030 people with the first name Koda, which placed it at #5,598 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
#5,598
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,030 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Koda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Koda is White at 58.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Two or More Races (13.9%). 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 Koda 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 Koda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.3% · 1,767
- Hispanic or Latino14.4% · 435
- Two or more races13.9% · 420
- American Indian and Alaska Native7.0% · 213
- Black or African American4.8% · 144
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 51
Gender
Gender distribution for Koda
Koda leans heavily male at 91.4% of total registrations, but 574 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Koda as a male name
- Ranked #464 in 2024
- 665 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (775 births)
Koda as a female name
- Ranked #2,832 in 2024
- 59 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (72 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Koda leans strongly male. 2,707 people counted with this name were male (89.5%), compared with 319 female bearers (10.5%).
Popularity
Koda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Koda from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 3,427 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
Koda 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 Koda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kodas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Koda, while Maine, Alaska, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 111 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Koda
The name Koda has its roots in several cultures and languages, with varying meanings and origins. One possible origin is from the Sanskrit language, where "koda" means "bowl" or "vessel." In this context, the name could be interpreted as a symbol of nourishment or sustenance.
Another possible origin is from the Native American Lakota Sioux language, where "koda" means "friend" or "ally." This ties the name to a sense of camaraderie and loyalty, reflecting the close-knit nature of many Native American tribes.
The name Koda can also be traced back to Japanese roots, where it is a unisex name meaning "descendent" or "offspring." This could be a nod to the importance of lineage and family ties in Japanese culture.
Historically, the name Koda has been found in various ancient texts and records. In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, there is a character named Kodava, which could be a variant of Koda. Additionally, there are records of a Japanese warrior named Koda Kiyomasa, who lived from 1562 to 1611 and played a significant role in the Sengoku period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Koda. One of the earliest recorded was Koda Rohan, a Japanese novelist and poet who lived from 1867 to 1939 and was known for his contributions to the Meiji period literary scene.
In more recent times, Koda Kumi, a Japanese singer and songwriter born in 1982, has gained international recognition for her successful music career spanning over two decades.
Another notable figure was Koda Nobunaga, a Japanese samurai and daimyo (feudal lord) who lived from 1555 to 1619 and played a pivotal role in the unification of Japan during the Sengoku period.
In the realm of sports, Koda Glover, an American professional baseball pitcher born in 1993, has made a name for himself in Major League Baseball, playing for teams such as the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Angels.
Lastly, Koda Kumi, a Japanese actress and model born in 1980, has garnered attention for her roles in various Japanese television dramas and films.
While the name Koda has diverse origins and meanings, it has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, spanning centuries and cultures, each leaving their mark on history in their own unique way.
People
Koda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Koda 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
Koda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Koda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,654 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Koda 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 51,511 US residents.
Is Koda a common name?
We classify Koda as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,707 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Koda most popular?
The single biggest year for Koda was 2023, when 842 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Koda 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 Koda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,030 people with the name Koda, or 1.00 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,598 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 Koda 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 Koda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Koda leans strongly male. 2,707 people counted with this name were male (89.5%), compared with 319 female bearers (10.5%). 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 Koda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Koda is White at 58.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Two or More Races (13.9%). 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 Koda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Koda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.3% (1,767 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 Koda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Koda a male name?
Yes, 91.4% of people registered as Koda 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 Koda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Koda 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 Koda 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 Koda?
See how many Americans are named Koda on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.