Khari
Feminine
Khari is given to both — 1,954 girls and 4,766 boys since 1880. See Khari as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Khari is a name in real American use with a meaning that has been asserted more often than it has been checked. The gloss usually printed for it — kingly — is given as Swahili, and Swahili does not appear to supply it.
How old is the name Khari?
Khari first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Khari is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,900 people named Khari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Khari most popular?
Khari peaked in 2019, reaching #1083 nationally. Today it ranks #3028, 1,945 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Khari
Our story of Khari is about a gloss that got printed and then repeated. Through the second half of the twentieth century, American naming books assembled lists of African names at second and third hand, and the tidy English meanings beside them were frequently written for the page rather than found in any language. A great many names entered wide use carrying a sentence that nobody had verified. The names are entirely real; the sentences beside them often are not. Saying so is more respectful of the languages involved than repeating a meaning that Swahili speakers would not recognize.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The 'kingly' reading circulates widely and no Swahili source supports it; the Swahili word for a king is mfalme. Khari appears in African-American naming from the later twentieth century without a documented derivation. The kh spelling is a transliteration convention borrowed for its look rather than for a sound. Nothing about this name's origin is established.
Pronouncing Khari
KAR-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The kh is said as a plain k in American English; it is a transliteration convention for a throat sound English does not have and does not make here.
Nicknames for Khari
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
- 1976
- Most girls named
- 2019231 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1083reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −29.9%54 in 2025, from 77
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.
Khari in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, California.
Kharis among us
people named Khari are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 29,764 born in 2025 was named Khari
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Khari
- #3028
- Khari on the 2025 chart
- #776
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Khari went to 54 girls in 2025, but Kari, Kaari and Cari and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 184, which makes it the 776th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,252 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 8,735 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 29,764 for Khari 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 Isha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Khari's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Isha climbed just as high around 2002, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Isha's path sketches the road Khari is walking now.
Khari 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 Khari is headed
Khari is easing off slowly — about 30% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. 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.
Khari beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Khari in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two easy syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- Ari is a ready short form and a complete name in its own right.
- Used for both sexes in American practice, so it carries no strong expectation.
- The meaning printed for it everywhere is unsourced and should not be relied on.
- The kh spelling will be queried every time the name is written down.
- Khari, Kari, Karee and Khary all circulate and none is standard.
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What they receive
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Khari
Feminine · #3028 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kharis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Khari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Khari?
- Khari is one of 5 recorded spellings. Kari is the more common one — 90 births in 2025 against 54 for Khari.
- How popular is the name Khari in 2025?
- Khari ranks #3028 among US girl names in 2025, with 54 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Khari?
- About 1 in every 29,764 US girls born in 2025 was named Khari — 54 in all.
- Will my child share the name Khari with classmates?
- Khari will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Khari
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Minnie#3028 · Boston#3028 · Joann#3028 · Alethea#3028 · Mallie#3028 · Auria#3028 · Adria#3028 · Daila#3028
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Khari? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Khari and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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