Kisa
Feminine
Kisa is a short, soft name of the sixties and seventies, and it shares its sound with one of the best-known parables in Buddhism, the story of Kisa Gotami and the mustard seed. In Russian the same sound is a pet name, 'kitty'.
How old is the name Kisa?
Kisa first appears in US birth records in 1964 — 61 years ago. The typical Kisa alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 600 people named Kisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kisa most popular?
Kisa peaked in 1978, reaching #2741 nationally. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kisa
In the Buddhist scriptures a young mother called Kisa Gotami — Kisa means 'thin' in Pali — carried her dead child from house to house, begging for medicine. The Buddha told her he could help if she brought him a mustard seed from a house where no one had ever died. She went from door to door and found none, and in that search she came to understand that grief belongs to everyone. The American Kisa was not named for her. But it shares her name, and her story is one of the gentlest in any tradition.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The American Kisa has no recorded source. It shares its sound with the Pali name Kisa, 'thin', and with the Russian endearment kisa, 'kitty', but is not documented as coming from either.
Pronouncing Kisa
KEE-suh
Two syllables with the stress on the first; some families say KISS-uh.
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
- 197830 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2741reached in 1978
- Change vs 2022
- +120.0%11 in 2023, from 5
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.
Kisas among us
people named Kisa 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
Kisa 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
- Short and soft.
- Rare, so a Kisa is unlikely to share her name.
- Easy to spell.
- Russian speakers will hear 'kitty', a pet name.
- It can be read KISS-uh, which invites teasing.
- It has no documented meaning of its own.
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Kisa
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Kisas 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 Kisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kisa in 2025?
- Kisa is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kisa with classmates?
- Kisa 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 Kisa? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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