Kaisan Name Meaning & Historical Trends

Kaisan

Pronunciation: KY-sahn

Meaning Temple founder; sagacity Gender Boy
BOYS RANK
#8,580
TREND
1,116

Rank shows the name’s position among U.S. baby names for each gender in 2025. Trend shows how many places it rose or fell since 2024. Rank 1 is the most popular. Based on U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Peak and lowest years are based on the number of boys named Kaisan in the available records.

Fun Facts About the Name Kaisan

  • 111 babies named Kaisan: U.S. records list 111 babies given the name Kaisan from 1880 through 2025.

What Does the Name Kaisan Mean?

Kaisan is a given name used in more than one tradition, so its meaning depends on which one it comes from. In Japanese it matches the word kaisan (開山), written with 開, "to open," and 山, "mountain." Literally "opening the mountain," this is a Buddhist term for the founding of a temple and, by extension, for the monk who founds a temple or establishes a line of teaching. Japanese personal names are normally written in kanji chosen by the family, so a person named Kaisan may carry a different set of characters and a different literal sense than the Buddhist term.

In Arabic, Kaysān (كيسان) is a personal name attested in early Islamic history. It is commonly linked to kays (كَيْس), "cleverness, sagacity," though how the name is formed from that root, and whether the connection is the original one, is not fully settled.

Kaisan Name History & Origins

In Japanese, kaisan belongs to Buddhist vocabulary rather than to the ordinary stock of birth names. In temple and sect usage it names the founding of a temple - both the event and the ceremony - and also serves as the title of the monk who founded it or who first established a particular school of Buddhism in Japan. Recorded in this religious sense, it appears mainly in temple histories and lineage records; it is also used, less often, as a Japanese given name.

In Arabic and early Islamic settings, Kaysān is recorded as a man's name. The Kaysāniyya, a Shi'i movement of the late seventh and eighth centuries, is traditionally said to take its name from a man called Kaysān, described in the sources as a client of Ali ibn Abi Talib; other accounts instead tie the name to al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd. Because the reports disagree, the origin of the group's name remains debated, and this affects how confidently the personal name can be explained.

How Popular is the Name Kaisan?

Kaisan has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2020. Its best rank was #6,461 in 2020.

U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.

Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.

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How the Name Kaisan Shapes Your Personality and Life?

EXTREMES in fortune, health and spirituality. You are very versatile, idealistic and intuitive. You either enjoy great success or suffer abject misery. The solution is service to others. Use your leadership abilities for humanity and not for self-glorification. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.

You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.

✦ Kaisan's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Kaisan's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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