Kahlan
Feminine
Kahlan is given to both — 1,484 girls and 85 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Kahlan Amnell is the heroine of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels, which began in 1994 and ran to seventeen volumes. The television adaptation aired from 2008 to 2010, and the name peaks in 2010. The curve follows the screen rather than the page.
How old is the name Kahlan?
Kahlan first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Kahlan alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 1,500 people named Kahlan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kahlan most popular?
Kahlan peaked in 2010, reaching #1456 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 8,001 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Kahlan
The novel appeared in 1994 and the series sold in very large numbers over the following fifteen years, but the American name curve is flat through that whole period and then rises sharply from 2009. The television series Legend of the Seeker ran for two seasons from November 2008 to May 2010, and the peak is 2010. That gap is the useful part. Books and television move names differently: a novel reaches its readers one at a time over years and produces a slow, shallow rise, while a television series puts the name in front of millions of people simultaneously and produces a spike. Where both exist, the spike almost always belongs to the screen. Names taken from fantasy fiction behave the same way generally, which is why the modern examples cluster around adaptations rather than around publication dates.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Kahlan has no inherited etymology and no source language. It was invented by Terry Goodkind for the character Kahlan Amnell in Wizard's First Rule, published in 1994. The name is absent from American records before the novels and rises with the television adaptation. The peak is 2010.
Pronouncing Kahlan
KAH-lun
Two syllables, stress on the first. The h is silent and marks the vowel as the ah of father rather than the a of cat.
Nicknames for Kahlan
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1997
- Most girls named
- 2010155 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1456reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- −44.4%10 in 2025, from 18
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kahlan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kalan in English — spelling variant
- Kaylan in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, California.
Kahlans among us
people named Kahlan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Kahlan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Deeanna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kahlan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Deeanna climbed just as high around 1962, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Deeanna's path sketches the road Kahlan is walking now.
Kahlan sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Kahlan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kahlan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables with a clear first-syllable stress.
- The h prevents the wrong vowel reading.
- Its origin is datable to a single book and author.
- It is closely identified with one fictional character.
- The silent h will be dropped by many spellers.
- It has no meaning in any language.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kahlan to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Kahlan? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kahlan
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kahlans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Kahlan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kahlan in 2025?
- Kahlan ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kahlan?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Kahlan — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kahlan with classmates?
- Kahlan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kahlan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kahlan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kahlan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle