Kanya
Feminine · “Girl”
Kanya is given to both — 593 girls and 25 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Kanya is the Sanskrit word for a girl or maiden, a name given in India and in Thailand. It names the southern tip of India and the maiden among the signs of the zodiac.
How old is the name Kanya?
Kanya first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Kanya alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 600 people named Kanya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kanya most popular?
Kanya peaked in 2007, reaching #3531 nationally. See the whole 2007 chart.
Where it comes from
From kanya to Kanya
The story of Kanya
Kanyakumari, the town at the very southern tip of mainland India, takes its name from Kanya Kumari, a maiden goddess whose temple stands on the shore where three seas meet; pilgrims gather there to watch the sun rise and set over the water. In Indian astrology Kanya is the sign of the maiden, the one the West calls Virgo. The name is given to girls in India and, through Sanskrit loanwords, in Thailand.
Meaning
'Girl, maiden', from Sanskrit
Kanya is Sanskrit for a girl or young unmarried woman.
How the name formed
- kanya
- Kanya
Related forms: Kanya · Kanya
Pronouncing Kanya
KAHN-yuh
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
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
- 1972
- Most girls named
- 200746 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3531reached in 2007
- Change vs 2022
- −12.5%7 in 2023, from 8
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.
Kanya in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kanya in Hindi — same name
- Kanya in Thai — same name
Kanyas among us
people named Kanya 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
Kanya 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
- A settled meaning in a living language.
- Short and easy to say.
- Rare, so a Kanya is unlikely to share her name.
- People will hear Tanya or Kenya.
- The spelling is recorded for a few boys, but nearly every Kanya is a girl.
- Some Americans will say KAN-yuh.
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What they receive
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Kanya
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Kanyas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Kanya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kanya in 2025?
- Kanya is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kanya with classmates?
- Kanya 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 Kanya? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kanya and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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