Kyesha
A feminine name of uncertain origin potentially meaning "precious" or "beloved one".
Name Census estimates that about 728 living Americans carry the first name Kyesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kyesha today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyesha births was 1991 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyesha. 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 Kyesha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
728
~ 1 in 470,816 Americans
Peak year
1991
45 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2008 SSA rank
#11,246
Tracked since 1971
Census
Kyesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 571 people with the first name Kyesha, 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
86.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kyesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyesha is Black at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and White (3.5%). 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 Kyesha 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 Kyesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.9% · 496
- Two or more races5.6% · 32
- White3.5% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 6
Popularity
Kyesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyesha 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 332 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kyesha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyesha 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 Kyesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kyeshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kyesha, while Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyesha
The name Kyesha is believed to have originated from the African continent, specifically in regions of West Africa. It is thought to be derived from the Yoruba language, spoken primarily in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The name is a combination of two Yoruba words: "Iye," meaning "mother," and "esha," meaning "fruitful" or "bountiful."
In Yoruba culture, names often carry deep symbolic meaning, reflecting the parents' hopes, aspirations, or circumstances surrounding the child's birth. The name Kyesha likely signifies a wish for the child to be blessed with fertility and abundance, a concept highly valued in traditional African societies.
While the exact origin of the name is not well documented, it is believed to have emerged during the era of the transatlantic slave trade, when many Africans were forcibly relocated to the Americas. As a result, the name may have been carried across the Atlantic Ocean by enslaved individuals from West Africa, eventually finding its way into the diverse cultural tapestry of the Caribbean and the Americas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kyesha can be found in the late 18th century, when a woman named Kyesha was listed as a slave in the records of a plantation in South Carolina, United States. This historical reference provides a glimpse into the early presence of the name in the Americas.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kyesha:
1. Kyesha Jennings (born 1980), an American professional basketball player who competed in the WNBA and overseas leagues.
2. Kyesha Wood (born 1976), an American singer and songwriter best known for her work in the R&B genre.
3. Kyesha Hinton (born 1988), an American track and field athlete who specialized in the long jump and triple jump events.
4. Kyesha Misajon (born 1987), a professional boxer from the Philippines, who has held several regional titles in the lightweight division.
5. Kyesha Norwood (born 1992), an American fashion model and social media influencer, known for her work with various brands and magazines.
These individuals, hailing from diverse backgrounds and professions, have carried the name Kyesha into the modern era, showcasing its enduring presence and cultural significance across different regions of the world.
People
Kyesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyesha 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
Kyesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 728 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyesha 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 470,816 US residents.
Is Kyesha a common name?
We classify Kyesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 760 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyesha was 1991, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyesha is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kyesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 571 people with the name Kyesha, 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 Kyesha 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 Kyesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 570 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Kyesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyesha is Black at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.6%) and White (3.5%). 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 Kyesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kyesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.9% (496 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 Kyesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kyesha 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 Kyesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyesha 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 Kyesha 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 Kyesha?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Kyesha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.