Kali

Did you know?

A few things about Kali you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Kali

Kali Rocha

American actress

Choose Kali and your child shares a first name with Kali Rocha, an American actress. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Kali, like who?” Kali Rocha's Wikipedia article is available in 25 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Kali Rocha on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Raven Underwood, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 1,695 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Kali, 948 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Kali would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryKali first shows up in US birth records in 1957, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 68 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2019, when it reached #241.
• 🍂TrendKali has slipped 70 places over the last five years and now sits at #323. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedKali is most popular in Mississippi, where it ranks #89, followed by South Carolina (#163) and Delaware (#167). It's in the top 1,000 in 35 states.
• 💬MeaningIn Sanskrit, Kali means “black”.
• 🌍OriginKali is the #3 most popular Indian girl name in the US. That's out of 220 Indian girl and unisex names in our list.

About the name Kali

Kali is a girl name of Indian origin meaning “black”. It has 4 letters and 2 syllables, starting with K and ending in “-ali”. US birth records list Kali for girls from 1957 to 2025, in 69 of those 69 years. Its best year was 2019, when it ranked #241 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #323, with 948 babies.

Origin:Indian names