Kayelynn
A feminine name of English origin meaning "beautiful meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 383 living Americans carry the first name Kayelynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kayelynn today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kayelynn births was 2008 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kayelynn. 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.
People living today
383
~ 1 in 894,920 Americans
Peak year
2008
27 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,723
Tracked since 1990
Census
Kayelynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 390 people with the first name Kayelynn, which placed it at #24,620 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
#24,620
National first-name rank
People counted
390
390 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kayelynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayelynn is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Kayelynn 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 Kayelynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.5% · 306
- Black or African American8.7% · 34
- Two or more races5.1% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 5
Popularity
Kayelynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kayelynn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 157 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kayelynn 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 Kayelynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kayelynns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kayelynn
The name Kayelynn is a relatively modern English name that emerged in the late 20th century. It is a combination of the names Kay and Lynn, both of which have their own distinct origins.
Kay is a diminutive form of the name Katherine, which is derived from the Greek name Aikaterine. Aikaterine is composed of the Greek elements "katharos" meaning "pure" and "heiros" meaning "sacred." The name Katherine was introduced to England by the Norman Conquest and became popular among the nobility. Over time, it spawned various diminutive forms, including Kay and Kate.
Lynn, on the other hand, has its roots in the ancient Germanic name Linden, which means "linden tree." The name was initially used as a surname, particularly in areas with a high concentration of linden trees, such as parts of England and Wales. Later, it evolved into a feminine given name, often as a shortened form of names like Lyndsey or Lynette.
While there are no definitive historical records of the name Kayelynn being used prior to the 20th century, it likely emerged as a creative combination of the two existing names, Kay and Lynn. Its popularity may have been influenced by the growing trend of creating unique and distinctive names during the late 20th century.
Notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kayelynn include:
1. Kayelynn Woods (born 1991), an American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Miami Sol and Connecticut Sun.
2. Kayelynn Benjamin (born 1986), a Canadian singer and songwriter known for her participation in the second season of Canadian Idol in 2004.
3. Kayelynn Lemon (born 1987), an American former volleyball player who played for the University of California, Berkeley and represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
4. Kayelynn Oleson (born 1991), an American actress best known for her role as Paige Chase in the television series Kyle XY.
5. Kayelynn Keast (born 1994), a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Toronto Six in the Premier Hockey Federation.
While the name Kayelynn may not have a long and storied history like many traditional names, it represents the modern trend of creating unique and personalized names by combining elements from different sources. Its popularity reflects the desire of parents to give their children a distinctive and meaningful name while drawing inspiration from established names and cultural influences.
People
Kayelynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kayelynn 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
Kayelynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kayelynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 383 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kayelynn 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 894,920 US residents.
Is Kayelynn a common name?
We classify Kayelynn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 388 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kayelynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Kayelynn was 2008, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kayelynn is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kayelynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 390 people with the name Kayelynn, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,620 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 Kayelynn 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 Kayelynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kayelynn appears almost entirely female. Of the 384 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kayelynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayelynn is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Kayelynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kayelynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (306 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 Kayelynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kayelynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kayelynn in the SSA data are female. 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 Kayelynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kayelynn 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 Kayelynn 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 the name Kayelynn?
Find out how many people share the name Kayelynn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.