Kalina
Feminine · “guelder rose”
Kalina is the guelder rose — a Slavic shrub with white flowers and red berries that runs through the folk songs of half of Eastern Europe.
How old is the name Kalina?
Kalina first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Kalina alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 4,200 people named Kalina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kalina most popular?
Kalina peaked in 2019, reaching #1332 nationally. Today it ranks #1561, 229 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kalina to Kalina
The story of Kalina
The kalina appears throughout Slavic folk poetry, and the name is current across Poland, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia. A separate Greek Kalina, from kalos, 'beautiful', also exists. Slavic emigration brought the name to America, where it appears in the registers rising through the 2000s and is in current use.
Meaning
guelder rose, viburnum
From the Slavic kalina, the guelder rose or snowball tree — a real shrub, ordinary in Polish, Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian. It is a standing image in Slavic folk song, associated with young womanhood and with mourning both. The word is ordinary and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- kalina
- Kalina
Related forms: Kalina · Калина · Kalina · Kalina
Pronouncing Kalina
kah-LEE-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Polish and Bulgarian say it the same way.
Nicknames for Kalina
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
- 2019171 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1332reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- +3.1%135 in 2025, from 131
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.
Kalina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kalina in Polish — same name
- Калина in Bulgarian — transliteration
- Kalina in Macedonian — same name
- Kalina in Serbian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, Texas.
Kalinas among us
people named Kalina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 11,906 born in 2025 was named Kalina
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kalina
- #1561
- Kalina on the 2025 chart
- #782
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kalina went to 135 girls in 2025, but Calina and Kalyna are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 178, which makes it the 782nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 779 places above the chart.
- Kalina135
- Calina29
- Kalyna14
About 1 girl in 9,030 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 11,906 for Kalina 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 Marquetta test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kalina's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marquetta climbed just as high around 1984, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marquetta's path sketches the road Kalina is walking now.
Kalina 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 Kalina is headed
Kalina 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.
Kalina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kalina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The guelder rose is a real plant with a real place in Slavic song.
- It is current across four Slavic languages without change of spelling.
- Kali and Lina are two short forms with their own records.
- The Greek Kalina is a separate name with a different meaning.
- Kalina and Katrina are close enough to be misheard.
- The folk associations include mourning as well as youth.
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What they receive
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Kalina
Feminine · #1561 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kalinas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,200 people named Kalina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kalina?
- Kalina is the most-used spelling in US records — 135 of the 178 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Calina and Kalyna.
- How popular is the name Kalina in 2025?
- Kalina ranks #1561 among US girl names in 2025, with 135 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kalina?
- About 1 in every 11,906 US girls born in 2025 was named Kalina — 135 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kalina with classmates?
- Kalina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kalina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Frida#1561 · Emori#1561 · Ela#1561 · Eliani#1561 · Rayla#1561 · Kollins#1561 · Delia#1561 · Keeley#1561
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kalina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kalina and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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