Kaz
Masculine
Kaz is a short form with parents in two unrelated languages: Polish Kazimierz, a name about destroying the enemy's glory, and Japanese names beginning Kazu-, about harmony.
How old is the name Kaz?
Kaz first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Kaz is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Kaz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kaz most popular?
Kaz peaked in 2023, reaching #2541 nationally. Today it ranks #3658, 1,117 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kaz
Ours, offered as ours. Two very different languages have arrived at the same three letters by clipping. Kazimierz is one of the great Polish royal names — a king of that name is credited with finding Poland wooden and leaving it brick — and Polish-American families shortened it to Kaz within a generation of arriving. Japanese-American families did the same with Kazuo and Kazuki. Neither knew about the other, and both now appear in American records.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No single source. Polish Kazimierz joins elements meaning to destroy and glory or peace, and the name belonged to several kings. Japanese Kazu- opens a set of names built on a character meaning harmony or peace. The two are unrelated and both produce Kaz.
Pronouncing Kaz
KAZ
One syllable, rhyming with jazz. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Kaz
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
- 1918
- Most boys named
- 202252 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2541reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −16.7%30 in 2025, from 36
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.
Kaz in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kazimierz in Polish — related form
- Kazuo in Japanese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Kazs among us
people named Kaz are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 56,936 born in 2025 was named Kaz
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kaz
- #3658
- Kaz on the 2025 chart
- #888
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kaz went to 30 boys in 2025, but Caz is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 40, which makes it the 888th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,770 places above the chart.
- Kaz30
- Caz10
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 56,936 for Kaz 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 Tallen test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kaz's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tallen climbed just as high around 2006, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tallen's path sketches the road Kaz is walking now.
Kaz 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 Kaz is headed
Kaz should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Kaz beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kaz in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable — as short as a name gets.
- Two genuinely old ancestries stand behind it, Polish and Japanese.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- It reads as a nickname to most people, which may matter on a formal document.
- There is no single meaning, so the honest answer names two traditions.
- A three-letter name gives no room for a nickname of its own.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kaz
Masculine · #3658 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kazs 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 Kaz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kaz?
- Kaz is the most-used spelling in US records — 30 of the 40 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Caz.
- How popular is the name Kaz in 2025?
- Kaz ranks #3658 among US boy names in 2025, with 30 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kaz?
- About 1 in every 56,936 US boys born in 2025 was named Kaz — 30 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kaz with classmates?
- Kaz will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kaz
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jimmie#3658 · Mckinley#3658 · Menno#3658 · Claudio#3658 · Ezekial#3658 · Brandt#3658 · Benuel#3658 · Gustav#3658
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kaz? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kaz and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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