Kama
Feminine
Kama is four letters that turn up in several unrelated languages, and American records cannot say which one a given family had in mind. The Sanskrit word is the best known of them, mostly because of a book that almost nobody who cites it has read.
How old is the name Kama?
Kama first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Kama alive today was born around 1977, making them about 48 years old. About 700 people named Kama are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kama most popular?
Kama peaked in 1970, reaching #2081 nationally. See the whole 1970 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kama
The Sanskrit treatise everyone can name is not the book they think it is. It runs to seven parts, and only one of them is the section on positions that gave the work its reputation in English. The rest is a guide to living well in a third-century city: how to furnish a house, how to keep a garden, what to do in the afternoons, how to conduct a courtship, how to choose and keep friends, what a wife's responsibilities are, how a courtesan should manage her finances. There are lists of the arts an educated person should be able to practice, and they include singing, cooking, carpentry, chemistry, the solving of riddles and the training of fighting cocks. The Victorian translation that made it famous in English was privately printed to evade obscenity law, which fixed the book's reputation as a sex manual and removed the rest from view.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Sanskrit word means desire in a broad sense, covering pleasure and aesthetic enjoyment as well as sexual love, and is one of the four recognized aims of a human life in classical Indian thought. The same four letters are a Hawaiian element and a Russian river name, and could equally be a build. Nothing records which.
Pronouncing Kama
KAH-muh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The first vowel is the ah of father in every language the name could come from, which is one thing all the possible sources agree on.
Nicknames for Kama
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
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 197039 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2081reached in 1970
- Change vs 2009
- 0.0%6 in 2012, from 6
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.
Kamas among us
people named Kama are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Kama sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Four letters, no silent ones, and no realistic way to misspell it after hearing it.
- Two open syllables are easy for a small child to say about themselves.
- It reads correctly on sight in several unrelated languages.
- Readers who know the Sanskrit word will make the association immediately.
- Kayla, Kama and Kiama will all be confused with it in speech.
- The record cannot say which language it came from, so no single meaning can be given.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kama 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 Kama? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kama
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Kamas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Kama are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kama in 2025?
- Kama is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kama with classmates?
- Kama will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Karen#1279 · Kimberly#302 · Kathleen#1150 · Katherine#186 · Kelly#851 · Kathryn#729 · Kayla#364 · Kathy#3249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kama? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kama 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