Kali
Masculine · “black”
Kali is given to girls far more often — 32,527 girls against 911 boys since 1880. See Kali as a girl name
Kali is a major Hindu goddess whose name means the black one — and the same word means time, which is the point.
How old is the name Kali?
Kali first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Kali alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 900 people named Kali are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kali most popular?
Kali peaked in 1974, reaching #2129 nationally. Today it ranks #4249, 2,120 places below that high. See the whole 1974 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kala to Kali
The story of Kali
Kali is a fierce form of the Devi, depicted dark, garlanded with skulls and standing on Shiva — an image that alarms outsiders and is understood within the tradition as the destruction of ego and the devouring of time rather than of people. Bengal's devotion to her is particularly deep. As a men's name in American records Kali is probably from Hawaiian or from the Ka- family rather than from the goddess.
Meaningscholars disagree
black; time
Sanskrit kala means both black and time, and Kali is its feminine; the doubling is deliberate in the theology, since she is the one who devours time. Separately Hawaiian kali means to wait, and Arabic khali is empty. All three are documented.
How the name formed
- kala
- Kali
Related forms: Kali · Kali · কালী
Pronouncing Kali
KAH-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. There is little variation.
Nicknames for Kali
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
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 202043 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2129reached in 1974
- Change vs 2024
- −4.0%24 in 2025, from 25
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.
Kali in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kali in Sanskrit — same name
- Kali in Hawaiian — related form
- কালী in Bengali — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Kalis among us
people named Kali are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 71,170 born in 2025 was named Kali
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kali
- #4249
- Kali on the 2025 chart
- #874
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kali went to 24 boys in 2025, but Cali and Khali are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 54, which makes it the 874th most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,375 places above the chart.
- Kali24
- Cali15
- Khali15
About 1 boy in 31,631 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 71,170 for Kali 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 Evon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kali's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Evon climbed just as high around 1935, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Evon's path sketches the road Kali is walking now.
Kali 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
Kali beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kali in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- Three real traditions produce the sound.
- The Hindu goddess is a powerful association and it is a women's name there.
- It is used for both sexes in American records, so forms may guess wrong.
- Kali, Kalli and Cali are all close and get confused.
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What they receive
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Kali
Masculine · #4249 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kalis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Kali are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kali?
- Kali is the most-used spelling in US records — 24 of the 54 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Cali and Khali.
- How popular is the name Kali in 2025?
- Kali ranks #4249 among US boy names in 2025, with 24 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kali?
- About 1 in every 71,170 US boys born in 2025 was named Kali — 24 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kali with classmates?
- Kali will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kali
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Guadalupe#4249 · Denny#4249 · Hughes#4249 · Erling#4249 · Rodrick#4249 · Elric#4249 · Ron#4249 · Wright#4249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kali? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kali and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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