Kaia: Meaning of Baby Name Kaia

About the Name Kaia

Kaia has multiple proposed origins. The most credible direct etymology connects Kaia to a Scandinavian short form of Katarina (the Greek-derived Catherine, see separate entry). A separate Hawaiian line connects Kaia to the Hawaiian word for "sea" or "ocean." A third Greek line connects Kaia to kaios meaning "earth" or "ground."

The contemporary American Kaia surge is essentially a 21st-century phenomenon. The single most influential modern bearer is American model Kaia Gerber (born 2001, daughter of Cindy Crawford), whose rapid 2010s emergence as one of the next generation of American supermodels gave the name a substantial millennial-era cultural anchor. Other contemporary bearers include various American actresses and reality-TV personalities.

Kaia's American climb is recent and substantial: the name climbed from outside the US top 1000 in 2005 to the US top 200 girls' rank by 2018 and the top 100 by 2022. The name's appeal sits in three contemporary American naming preferences: the multi-cultural etymological flexibility (Scandinavian/Hawaiian/Greek), the popular two-syllable -aia ending family (Aria, Maia, Kaia, Mya), and the modern K-spelling visual register. The soft pronunciation gives the name an inherent gentle warmth. Common nicknames Kai (now itself a popular standalone name, gender-neutral, see separate entries) and the rare Kayla (a separate but related name) each carry distinct registers; the alternate spellings Kaya, Caia, and Kayah have their own SSA tracking. International forms include Caia (Italian), Kaya (Turkish/Native American), and the related Hawaiian kai family.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.

Quick Facts About Kaia

1,029

Greek baby names in our dictionary

545

Greek female names

99

4-letter K-names in our dictionary

598

K-female names total

2000–2025

years of US SSA records (26 total)

19,862

total US births named Kaia (all years)

US Popularity History (2000–2025)

🔥 Rising fast: Kaia climbed 107 places in the US girls ranking over the last 5 years (#300 in 2020 → #193 in 2025).

Annual US births named Kaia by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2024 with 1,675 girls named Kaia (girl rank #180 that year).

Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #193 for girls (1,618 US births). That's 13 places below its 2024 peak.

Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.

Where in the US Is Kaia Most Popular?

Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Kaia the strongest states are Hawaii, Alaska, California.

Strongest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Hawaii	#31	214
2	Alaska	#90	24
3	California	#147	2,160
4	Delaware	#156	19
5	Rhode Island	#159	32
6	Washington	#159	420
7	District of Columbia	#185	16
8	South Dakota	#189	32
9	Colorado	#189	271
10	North Dakota	#190	30

Weakest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Alabama	#582	79
2	Louisiana	#496	93
3	North Carolina	#489	213
4	Kentucky	#486	74
5	Georgia	#471	223
6	Michigan	#451	197
7	Oklahoma	#447	75
8	Tennessee	#431	170
9	Texas	#427	747
10	Indiana	#412	162

Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Kaia in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.

Variant Forms

Name	Meaning	Gender	Origin
Kaiah		Female	Hawaiian
Kaya	Adds A Place Of Resting	Female	Japanese
Kayah	"Wise Child. (Japanese Meaning: A Resting Place). Variant Of Kaya (Philippino For Ability, Power, Aptitude Or Capable)"	Female	English

Looking for names like Kaia?

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Compare Kaia to Other Popular Names

Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Kaia against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).

Kaia vs Olivia 210,124 births since 2014

Kaia vs Emma 202,477 births since 2014

Kaia vs Sophia 169,709 births since 2014

Kaia vs Isabella 158,431 births since 2014

Kaia vs Ava 157,356 births since 2014

Kaia vs Charlotte 151,872 births since 2014

Kaia vs Mia 149,779 births since 2014

Kaia vs Amelia 142,728 births since 2014

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