Kasha
Feminine
Kasha is one letter from the standard Polish short form of Katherine and identical to the Polish and Russian word for porridge. Kasia is the name; kasza is the food; and the English spelling here lands closer to the second than the first, which is a small orthographic accident with a large practical effect in any Polish-speaking company.
How old is the name Kasha?
Kasha first appears in US birth records in 1964 — 61 years ago. The typical Kasha alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 1,500 people named Kasha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kasha most popular?
Kasha peaked in 1990, reaching #1701 nationally. See the whole 1990 chart.
Where it comes from
From Polish reducing its form of Katherine to two syllables to Kasha
The story of Kasha
Buckwheat is not wheat and is not a grass. It is related to rhubarb and sorrel, produces a seed rather than a grain, and grows in poor soil and short seasons where cereals will not, which is why it became a staple across northern and eastern Europe. The porridge made from it is one of the oldest continuously eaten dishes in the region and the word for it is used across the Slavic languages. Meanwhile the name is a straightforward household form: Polish reduces its version of Katherine to two syllables in the ordinary way, and the result is one of the commonest women's names in the country. English speakers writing either word by ear tend to arrive at the same spelling, which is how a name and a breakfast come to share a certificate.
Meaningnot established
Not established
If the name is the Polish short form of Katherine, the parent name has no established meaning at all, so nothing is inherited. If it is the food word, the meaning is buckwheat groats. If it is an American coinage on a Ka- front, there is no meaning. Three routes, three answers, and the spelling points at the middle one without necessarily meaning it.
How the name formed
- Polish reducing its form of Katherine to two syllables
- A separate Slavic word for buckwheat porridge
- Both arriving at the same English spelling
- Kasha in American registers from the nineteen sixties
Related forms: Kasia · Katya
Pronouncing Kasha
KAH-shuh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Polish says its name the same way but spells it with an s and an i rather than an sh, because Polish uses those two letters together for exactly this sound and has no use for the English digraph.
Nicknames for Kasha
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
- 1964
- Most girls named
- 199086 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1701reached in 1990
- Change vs 2023
- −16.7%5 in 2024, 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.
Kasha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kasia in Polish — related form
- Katya in Russian — related form
Kashas among us
people named Kasha 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
Kasha 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
- It is short, warm and impossible to mispronounce in English.
- It connects to a real and very common Polish name, which matters in a family with those roots.
- The sound is soft and unusual without being difficult.
- In Polish or Russian company the spelling reads as a breakfast dish.
- Kasia is the correct Polish spelling of the name and this one is not.
- There are three possible routes to it and no way to tell them apart on paper.
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Kasha
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Kashas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Kasha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kasha in 2025?
- Kasha is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kasha with classmates?
- Kasha 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 Kasha? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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