114 saved#1,989 of 6,224

National Kayla Day

A name-day observance on January 15 celebrating individuals named Kayla and the name's cultural and linguistic heritage.

Friday

January 2027

Last updated March 21, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar Team

Have an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEJanuary 15

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYNames

ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY

Not documented

FIRST OBSERVED

~2015

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

No documented founder or formal establishment record has been identified. The earliest online listings for National Kayla Day appeared around 2015.

+ Know the story? Submit a founder Help us complete this holiday

INTRO

Introduction

PHOTO

A single fictional character on a daytime soap opera turned the name Kayla from a statistical footnote into one of the most popular girls' names in late-twentieth-century America. National Kayla Day marks January 15 as a day for the generation of women who inherited a name with no ancient pedigree but an outsized cultural moment behind it.

The name's roots stretch across at least three languages and continents, but its American story is almost entirely a product of the 1980s and 1990s. That compressed timeline makes Kayla one of the clearest case studies of how pop culture can rewrite the naming landscape in a single decade.

ORIGINS

Kayla Day history

INTRODUCTION

Kayla belongs to a small group of American given names that emerged in the mid-twentieth century without a single clear ancestor. The name first appeared in Social Security Administration records in the late 1950s and gained traction slowly through the 1960s and 1970s. Linguists trace possible roots to the Hebrew Kelila, meaning "crown" or "wreath," and to the Irish Gaelic Caolfhionn, meaning "slender and fair."

Some scholars also link it to the Yiddish name Kaila or suggest it was coined by blending the popular name Kay with the suffix "-la." Whatever the exact pathway, Kayla had no established history in English-speaking countries before American parents began choosing it.

CHAPTER 01

A Soap Opera Changes Everything

The name's trajectory shifted when NBC's Days of Our Lives introduced the character Kayla Brady on January 18, 1982. Played initially by Catherine Mary Stewart, the character became a fixture of the show's storylines. When Mary Beth Evans took over the role in 1986, Kayla Brady's popularity exploded alongside a central romance arc that ran for years.

The effect on baby naming was immediate and measurable. Kayla jumped from outside the top 100 in 1981 to the top 25 by 1988. By 1996, it had reached number 11 on the Social Security Administration's annual rankings, making it one of the fastest climbs for a modern invented name in American naming history.

CHAPTER 02

The Name in Decline and the Holiday's Emergence

After its mid-1990s peak, Kayla's popularity gradually receded. By 2021, it had fallen to 255th, a common pattern for names that spike on the back of a single cultural moment. Yet the installed base remained large: an estimated 340,000 Americans carry the name today, with an average age of about 26.

National Kayla Day appeared in online holiday listings around 2015. No founder or formal establishment record has been identified, placing it among the many name-day observances that emerged through informal internet-era circulation rather than institutional backing.

TIMELINE

National Kayla Day Timeline

Kayla enters US naming records

The Social Security Administration recorded the first significant appearances of Kayla as a given name in the United States during the late 1950s.

Kayla Brady debuts on television

The character Kayla Brady first appeared on NBC's Days of Our Lives on January 18, 1982, played by Catherine Mary Stewart.

Name enters the top 25

Fueled by the soap opera's popularity, Kayla broke into the top 25 most popular girls' names in the United States.

Peak popularity reached

Kayla hit its all-time high at number 11 on the Social Security Administration's baby name rankings.

Kayla Harrison wins Olympic gold

Judoka Kayla Harrison became the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in judo at the London Games.

National Kayla Day first observed

The earliest online listings for National Kayla Day appeared around 2015, though no founder has been identified.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Kayla Day

Research your name's linguistic roots

Use the Behind the Name database to trace Kayla's Hebrew, Gaelic, and Greek etymologies. Comparing the different origin theories reveals how naming conventions cross language barriers.

WATCH

Watch a classic Kayla Brady storyline

Stream key episodes of Days of Our Lives on Peacock featuring the character whose popularity drove thousands of parents to choose the name. The Steve and Kayla romance arc from the late 1980s is considered one of the show's defining storylines.

CHECK

Check how your name ranked the year you were born

The Social Security Administration's baby name tool lets you look up any name's ranking by year. Comparing your birth year to the peak year shows how naming trends shifted around you.

Share the day with every Kayla you know

Send a message to the Kaylas in your life with a quick fact about the name's origin or its peak ranking. Name-day observances work best when the people they honor actually hear about them.

WATCH

Watch Kayla Harrison's Olympic highlights

Harrison's 2012 London gold medal match and her 2016 Rio repeat are available on the Olympic YouTube channel. Her transition from judo to mixed martial arts added a second chapter to an already historic career.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Kayla Day

It carries a record of athletic achievement

Kayla Harrison became the first American to win Olympic gold in judo at the 2012 London Games, repeated in 2016 in Rio, and later became UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Her career is the most decorated individual athletic record attached to the name.

It documents how television reshapes naming

Kayla's leap from near-obscurity to the top 15 within six years of its Days of Our Lives debut is one of the most well-documented cases of a television character influencing American baby names. The pattern has since repeated with names like Arya and Khaleesi after Game of Thrones.

It represents peak Generation Y naming trends

The name's rise and fall tracks almost exactly with the millennial birth cohort, peaking in the mid-1990s and declining as Gen Z parents favored different sounds. Its concentrated generational presence makes Kayla a demographic marker as recognizable as names like Jennifer or Brittany from earlier decades.

Test your knowledge