Kalpana is an Indian given name of Sanskrit origin, derived from the word 'kalpana', which means imagination or fantasy. It's predominantly used by families practicing Hinduism and is considered a unisex name, although it's more commonly given to females. The name gained global recognition when Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-American astronaut, became the first woman of Indian descent to go to space as part of NASA's Space Shuttle mission in 1997.
The name Kalpana had a fluctuating popularity over this period, with the highest number of births in 1971 at eight, and the lowest in 1969 at five. The total number of babies named Kalpana born between 1966 and 1974 was thirty-one.