Kincaid
Of Irish origin, a topographic name referring to the head of a coastal inlet.
Name Census estimates that about 442 living Americans carry the first name Kincaid. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kincaid today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kincaid births was 2001 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kincaid. 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
442
~ 1 in 775,462 Americans
Peak year
2001
27 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,015
Tracked since 1993
Census
Kincaid in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 442 people with the first name Kincaid, which placed it at #22,485 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
#22,485
National first-name rank
People counted
442
442 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kincaid
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kincaid is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.3%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Kincaid 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 Kincaid at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.3% · 324
- Two or more races9.3% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 33
- Black or African American6.6% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 6
Popularity
Kincaid: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kincaid from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 182 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kincaid remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kincaid 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 Kincaid during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kincaids live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kincaid
The given name Kincaid finds its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language and culture, tracing back to the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Gaelic words "cionn" meaning "head" and "cead" meaning "payment" or "tribute." This suggests the name may have initially referred to a person who collected taxes or tributes.
In the 12th century, the surname Kincaid emerged in Scotland, particularly in the regions of Stirlingshire and Lennox. The earliest recorded instance of the name is found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which document pledges of allegiance to King Edward I of England. One entry mentions a "Richard de Kyncade" from Stirlingshire.
While the name Kincaid does not appear in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is closely tied to Scottish history and clan lineages. The Kincaid family was prominent in the Scottish Wars of Independence against England in the 13th and 14th centuries. They were staunch supporters of Robert the Bruce and played a significant role in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the given name Kincaid was Kincaid of Park, who lived in the late 14th century and was a member of the Kincaid clan. Another prominent figure was Sir John Kincaid (1505-1572), a Scottish lawyer and judge who served as Lord Justice Clerk during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots.
In the 17th century, Captain John Kincaid (1615-1687) was a Scottish soldier who fought for the Covenanters during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He later emigrated to the American colonies and settled in New Jersey. His descendants played a role in the American Revolutionary War.
Another notable Kincaid was Sir Robert Kincaid (1832-1920), a British naval officer and explorer who served as Governor of the Falkland Islands from 1888 to 1893. He was instrumental in establishing the British claim to Graham Land in Antarctica.
In literature, the name Kincaid appears in the works of renowned Scottish authors such as Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. One of the most famous fictional characters with the name is Lieutenant Kincaid from Joseph Conrad's novel "Lord Jim," published in 1900.
While the given name Kincaid is less common today, it continues to hold historical significance and ties to Scottish heritage and clan traditions.
People
Kincaid + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kincaid 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
Kincaid: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kincaid?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 442 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kincaid 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 775,462 US residents.
Is Kincaid a common name?
We classify Kincaid as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 447 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kincaid most popular?
The single biggest year for Kincaid was 2001, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kincaid is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kincaid in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 442 people with the name Kincaid, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,485 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 Kincaid 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 Kincaid?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kincaid leans strongly male. 387 people counted with this name were male (88.4%), compared with 51 female bearers (11.6%). 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 Kincaid?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kincaid is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.3%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Kincaid most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kincaid in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.3% (324 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 Kincaid in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kincaid a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kincaid 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 Kincaid still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kincaid 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 Kincaid 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 Kincaid?
See how many Americans are named Kincaid on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.