Kailen
A gender-neutral name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of "Kaylin".
Name Census estimates that about 1,625 living Americans carry the first name Kailen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 55.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Kailen today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kailen births was 2008 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kailen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kailen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kailen sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 210,926 Americans
Peak year
2008
71 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,182
Tracked since 1983
Census
Kailen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,343 people with the first name Kailen, which placed it at #10,065 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,065
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,343 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kailen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kailen is White at 43.1%. The next largest groups are Black (27.9%) and Hispanic (13.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kailen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kailen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.1% · 579
- Black or African American27.9% · 375
- Hispanic or Latino13.7% · 184
- Two or more races9.9% · 133
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Kailen
Kailen is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,650 total registrations, 922 (55.9%) were male and 728 (44.1%) were female.
Kailen as a male name
- Ranked #3,182 in 2024
- 38 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (43 births)
Kailen as a female name
- Ranked #16,339 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (41 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kailen on both sides of the split. Of the 1,337 people counted with this name, 676 were male (50.6%) and 661 were female (49.4%).
Popularity
Kailen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kailen from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 577 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kailen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kailen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kailen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kailens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kailen, while Washington, South Carolina, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kailen
The name Kailen is of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the ancient Celtic word "cailean," which means "whelp" or "young wolf." It is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century, when the Scottish Highlands were still predominantly inhabited by Gaelic-speaking clans and tribes.
In its earliest form, the name was spelled "Cailean" or "Cailen," and it was commonly bestowed upon young boys born into Highland warrior families. The name carried connotations of strength, courage, and fierceness, which were highly prized qualities among the Celtic warriors of that era.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the ancient Gaelic manuscript known as the "Book of Deer," which dates back to the 9th or 10th century. This manuscript contains genealogies and records of the Pictish and Scottish nobility, and it includes several references to individuals bearing the name Cailean or variations thereof.
Throughout the centuries, the name has undergone various spelling variations, including Cailean, Cailen, Kalen, Kaylen, and eventually settling on the modern spelling of Kailen. This evolution likely occurred as the name spread beyond the Scottish Highlands and was adapted to different linguistic and cultural contexts.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Kailen was Cailean Mór, a powerful Scottish nobleman and Chief of the Clan MacLean in the 13th century. He played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence against England and was renowned for his military prowess.
Another notable bearer of the name was Kailen O'Shaughnessy, an Irish chieftain and warrior who lived in the 15th century. He was known for his fierce resistance against English rule in Ireland and his defense of the traditional Gaelic way of life.
In the 16th century, Kailen MacGregor was a prominent member of the Clan Gregor, a Highland Scottish clan renowned for their martial skills. He is said to have participated in several battles against rival clans and the English forces during the turbulent period of Scottish history.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Kailen McCallum was a Scottish poet and writer who contributed to the preservation of Gaelic literature and culture. His works celebrated the rich heritage and traditions of the Scottish Highlands.
More recently, in the 20th century, Kailen Tompkins was a renowned American mountaineer and explorer who led several expeditions to some of the world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest and K2.
People
Kailen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kailen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kailen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kailen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,625 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kailen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 210,926 US residents.
Is Kailen a common name?
We classify Kailen as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,650 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kailen most popular?
The single biggest year for Kailen was 2008, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kailen is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kailen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,343 people with the name Kailen, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,065 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kailen in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kailen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kailen on both sides of the split. Of the 1,337 people counted with this name, 676 were male (50.6%) and 661 were female (49.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kailen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kailen is White at 43.1%. The next largest groups are Black (27.9%) and Hispanic (13.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kailen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kailen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.1% (579 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kailen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kailen a male name?
Yes, 55.9% of people registered as Kailen in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kailen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kailen in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kailen can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Kailen as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.