# Kali (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kali/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Sanskrit |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɑːli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 33,438 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 911 / 32,527 (97% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 644, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Sanskrit काली (kālī) or कालिका (kālikā).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 602 | 493 |
| 2012 | 748 | 420 |
| 2013 | 872 | 363 |
| 2014 | 1,260 | 261 |
| 2015 | 1,187 | 267 |
| 2016 | 1,086 | 300 |
| 2017 | 1,089 | 302 |
| 2018 | 1,208 | 274 |
| 2019 | 1,312 | 242 |
| 2020 | 1,181 | 253 |
| 2021 | 1,123 | 284 |
| 2022 | 1,228 | 250 |
| 2023 | 1,072 | 291 |
| 2024 | 1,073 | 295 |
| 2025 | 948 | 323 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 7 | 10,197 |
| 2012 | 17 | 5,375 |
| 2013 | 21 | 4,537 |
| 2014 | 24 | 4,192 |
| 2015 | 30 | 3,637 |
| 2016 | 34 | 3,331 |
| 2017 | 37 | 3,159 |
| 2018 | 32 | 3,478 |
| 2019 | 41 | 2,965 |
| 2020 | 43 | 2,820 |
| 2021 | 43 | 2,888 |
| 2022 | 29 | 3,822 |
| 2023 | 29 | 3,843 |
| 2024 | 25 | 4,261 |
| 2025 | 24 | 4,318 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 16 | 1,729 |
| 2012 | 8 | 2,969 |
| 2013 | 16 | 1,774 |
| 2014 | 19 | 1,562 |
| 2015 | 12 | 2,195 |
| 2016 | 24 | 1,370 |
| 2017 | 28 | 1,219 |
| 2018 | 15 | 1,887 |
| 2019 | 32 | 1,063 |
| 2020 | 47 | 771 |
| 2021 | 30 | 1,128 |
| 2022 | 31 | 1,081 |
| 2023 | 37 | 941 |
| 2024 | 44 | 837 |
| 2025 | 26 | 1,229 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 3 | 4,702 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3,848 |

## People named Kali

- Kali Rocha, American actress
- Kali Reis, American boxer and actress
- Kali Hawk, American actress
- Kali Flanagan, American ice hockey player (born 1995)
- Kali Malone, American composer and musician

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.