Kya
Kya is a girl's name of Contemporary origin.
Meaning
Varies by derivation; often treated as a modern variant of Kaia (meaning 'pure' or 'ocean') or an invented modern name.
Origin and history
Kya is a modern invented name or phonetic variant of Kai, Kaia, or Maya. It gained notable popularity in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, partly boosted by popular culture including the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and the novel Where the Crawdads Sing. In the United States, it is consistently used as a creative, contemporary feminine name.
Popularity in the United States
6,372 babies in the United States have been named Kya since 1880. It ranks #2132 all-time. Among babies born since 2020 it ranks #1081.
States where it is most popular
- TX (10 %)
- CA (9.6 %)
- OH (7.1 %)
- FL (6.4 %)
- PA (5.5 %)
Trends by decade
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880-1890 | 0 |
| 1890-1900 | 0 |
| 1900-1910 | 0 |
| 1910-1920 | 0 |
| 1920-1930 | 0 |
| 1930-1940 | 0 |
| 1940-1950 | 0 |
| 1950-1960 | 0 |
| 1960-1970 | 0 |
| 1970-1980 | 53 |
| 1980-1990 | 105 |
| 1990-2000 | 569 |
| 2000-2010 | 2,629 |
| 2010-2019 | 1,785 |
| 2020-2029 | 1,231 |
Fun facts
- The name received widespread visibility as the mother of Aang's children in the animated franchise Avatar: The Last Airbender and the main character in Where the Crawdads Sing.
- Kya arose primarily in late 20th-century America as part of the trend for short, vowel-ending names like Mya and Maya.