Kelsey
A feminine name of English origin meaning "From the island of ships".
Name Census estimates that about 149,800 living Americans carry the first name Kelsey. It is a predominantly female name (96.6% of registrations). The average person named Kelsey today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kelsey births was 1992 (11,882 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kelsey. 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 Kelsey with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kelsey started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Although Kelsey is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 5,308 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1990s, recent registration numbers for Kelsey have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
150K
~ 1 in 2,288 Americans
Peak year
1992
11,882 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#671
Tracked since 1891
Census
Kelsey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138,740 people with the first name Kelsey, which placed it at #407 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
#407
National first-name rank
People counted
139K
138,740 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
45.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kelsey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelsey is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Black (4.8%). 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 Kelsey 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 Kelsey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.3% · 116,950
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 6,993
- Black or African American4.8% · 6,648
- Two or more races3.8% · 5,228
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 1,979
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 942
Gender
Gender distribution for Kelsey
Kelsey leans heavily female at 96.6% of total registrations, but 5,308 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kelsey as a male name
- Ranked #10,380 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (250 births)
Kelsey as a female name
- Ranked #671 in 2024
- 430 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (11,713 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kelsey leans strongly female. 134,903 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 3,842 male bearers (2.8%).
Popularity
Kelsey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kelsey from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 86,595 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kelsey 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 Kelsey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kelseys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kelsey, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,949 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kelsey
Kelsey is an English given name with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "ċel" meaning "brook" or "chalky stream" and "ēg" meaning "island" or "dry ground." The name was originally a surname referring to someone who lived near a chalky stream or on dry ground near a stream.
The name Kelsey first appeared in historical records in the 12th century, particularly in areas of England such as Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. It was initially used as a locational surname, but over time, it transitioned into a given name.
One of the earliest documented instances of Kelsey as a first name dates back to the 14th century, with a reference to a man named Kelsey of Bramham in Yorkshire, England, in the year 1379.
In the 15th century, a notable figure named Kelsey Whetstone was recorded as a member of the English gentry in Hertfordshire. Whetstone was a prominent family name during that era, and the combination of Kelsey and Whetstone suggests that the name Kelsey held some significance among the gentry.
During the 16th century, a man named Kelsey Throckmorton was a member of the English landed gentry and served as a member of parliament for Worcestershire in 1553. Throckmorton was a prominent surname in English history, and the use of Kelsey as a given name within this family further solidified its importance.
In the 17th century, a woman named Kelsey Rayner was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1642. Rayner was a respected family name in the region, and the inclusion of Kelsey as a given name for a female suggests that it had become more widely accepted for both genders by that time.
Another notable figure from history bearing the name Kelsey was Kelsey Jones, born in 1785 in Wales. Jones was a Welsh poet and writer who gained recognition for his works in the early 19th century, further cementing the name's association with literary and artistic circles.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kelsey
People
Kelsey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kelsey 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
Kelsey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kelsey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 149,800 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kelsey 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 2,288 US residents.
Is Kelsey a common name?
We classify Kelsey as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 155,383 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kelsey most popular?
The single biggest year for Kelsey was 1992, when 11,882 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kelsey is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kelsey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138,740 people with the name Kelsey, or 45.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #407 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 Kelsey 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 Kelsey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kelsey leans strongly female. 134,903 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 3,842 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Kelsey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelsey is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Black (4.8%). 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 Kelsey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kelsey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.3% (116,950 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 Kelsey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kelsey a female name?
Yes, 96.6% of people registered as Kelsey 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 Kelsey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kelsey 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 Kelsey 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 common is the name Kelsey?
See how many people share the name Kelsey on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.