Kalena
Feminine
Kalena is a name that reaches American records through Hawaii, where an alphabet of twelve letters has been remaking foreign names for two hundred years. Whatever it began as, it arrived in Hawaiian shaped like this.
How old is the name Kalena?
Kalena first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Kalena alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 2,700 people named Kalena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kalena most popular?
Kalena peaked in 2017, reaching #2018 nationally. Today it ranks #3167, 1,149 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Kalena appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kalena
Ours rather than the record's. There is a real and rather generous piece of history behind this name: when missionaries wrote Hawaiian down in the 1820s they fixed an alphabet of twelve letters, and every name that came ashore afterwards had to fit through it. Kalena is one of the results — a name that entered Hawaiian as a stranger and came out belonging. Which stranger it was is no longer recoverable for any one family, and that is a fair description of a great many names in America.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No settled meaning. What is documented is the process: Hawaiian has no r, no d and no s, so names carrying them are rebuilt — Karen, Darlene and similar names all come out as Kalena. The result is a genuine Hawaiian-language name whose original may be any of several.
Pronouncing Kalena
kah-LAY-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle, every vowel sounded as in Hawaiian. Mainland usage often gives kuh-LEE-nuh.
Nicknames for Kalena
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
- 1962
- Most girls named
- 201797 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2018reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −13.8%50 in 2025, from 58
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.
Kalena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kalena in Hawaiian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Hawaii, California, Florida.
Kalenas among us
people named Kalena are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 32,145 born in 2025 was named Kalena
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kalena
- #3167
- Kalena on the 2025 chart
- #891
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kalena went to 50 girls in 2025, but Kaleena and Calena are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 69, which makes it the 891st most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,276 places above the chart.
- Kalena50
- Kaleena12
- Calena7
About 1 girl in 23,294 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 32,145 for Kalena itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Cailee test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kalena's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Cailee climbed just as high around 1999, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Cailee's path sketches the road Kalena is walking now.
Kalena 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
Where Kalena is headed
Kalena should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kalena beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kalena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Every letter is pronounced, so it is read correctly by Hawaiian and Spanish speakers alike.
- Lena sits inside it as a plain, long-established short form.
- Three open syllables make it easy to say and hard to mishear.
- There is no settled meaning, and the ones offered in name lists are not well supported.
- Kalena, Kalina and Kaleena are all in the records and get confused.
- Outside Hawaii the vowels get flattened and the name loses its shape.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kalena 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 Kalena? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kalena
Feminine · #3167 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kalenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Kalena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kalena?
- Kalena is the most-used spelling in US records — 50 of the 69 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kaleena and Calena.
- How popular is the name Kalena in 2025?
- Kalena ranks #3167 among US girl names in 2025, with 50 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kalena?
- About 1 in every 32,145 US girls born in 2025 was named Kalena — 50 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kalena with classmates?
- Kalena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kalena
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lulu#3167 · Lucina#3167 · Irma#3167 · Leyna#3167 · Skylee#3167 · Amairani#3167 · Jorja#3167 · Jozie#3167
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kalena? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kalena 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