Kinsey
An English gender-neutral name from a surname meaning "king's victory".
Name Census estimates that about 7,847 living Americans carry the first name Kinsey. It is a predominantly female name (96.3% of registrations). The average person named Kinsey today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kinsey births was 2011 (319 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kinsey. 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 Kinsey with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kinsey is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 295 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
7.8K
~ 1 in 43,680 Americans
Peak year
2011
319 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2015 SSA rank
#2,391
Tracked since 1917
Census
Kinsey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,242 people with the first name Kinsey, which placed it at #3,056 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
#3,056
National first-name rank
People counted
7.2K
7,242 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kinsey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinsey is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Kinsey 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 Kinsey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 6,205
- Two or more races5.2% · 378
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 291
- Black or African American3.0% · 219
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 64
Gender
Gender distribution for Kinsey
Kinsey leans heavily female at 96.3% of total registrations, but 295 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kinsey as a male name
- Ranked #13,153 in 2015
- 5 male births in 2015
- Peak: 1982 (14 births)
Kinsey as a female name
- Ranked #2,391 in 2024
- 76 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (313 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kinsey leans strongly female. 6,942 people counted with this name were female (95.9%), compared with 299 male bearers (4.1%).
Popularity
Kinsey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kinsey from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,566 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kinsey 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 Kinsey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kinseys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Kinsey, while New Jersey, Idaho, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 142 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kinsey
The name Kinsey has its origins in the English language, derived from the Old English surname "Cynesige," which means "king's victory." It is believed to have emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, between the 5th and 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kinsey can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a census commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as a surname, with a few variations in spelling, such as "Kinsi" and "Kinsie."
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Kinsey was predominantly used as a surname, particularly in the northern regions of England. It wasn't until the 16th century that it began to gain popularity as a given name.
One notable historical figure with the name Kinsey was Sir John Kinsey (1604-1677), an English politician and Member of Parliament during the English Civil War. He played a significant role in the Siege of Gloucester in 1643, successfully defending the city against the Royalist forces.
Another individual of note was Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956), an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology. He is best known for his groundbreaking research on human sexual behavior, which led to the publication of the Kinsey Reports in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In the literary world, Kinsey Millhone is a fictional character created by Sue Grafton, an American author of detective novels. The series, which spans from "A" Is for Alibi (1982) to "Y" Is for Yesterday (2017), follows the adventures of the female private investigator Kinsey Millhone.
Kinsey Wolanski (born 1996) is a contemporary figure who gained notoriety for her streaking incident during the 2019 UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Her actions made her an internet sensation and sparked discussions about publicity stunts and public indecency.
Another notable individual with the name Kinsey was Kinsey Naoine (1963-2017), a Navajo painter and artist known for his vibrant and culturally significant works. His paintings often explored themes of Native American identity, tradition, and the natural world.
While the name Kinsey has its roots in England and was initially used as a surname, it has transcended its origins and become a respected given name in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries.
People
Kinsey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kinsey 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
Kinsey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kinsey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,847 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kinsey 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 43,680 US residents.
Is Kinsey a common name?
We classify Kinsey as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,059 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kinsey most popular?
The single biggest year for Kinsey was 2011, when 319 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kinsey is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kinsey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,242 people with the name Kinsey, or 2.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,056 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 Kinsey 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 Kinsey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kinsey leans strongly female. 6,942 people counted with this name were female (95.9%), compared with 299 male bearers (4.1%). 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 Kinsey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinsey is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Kinsey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kinsey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (6,205 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 Kinsey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kinsey a female name?
Yes, 96.3% of people registered as Kinsey 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 Kinsey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kinsey 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 Kinsey 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 share the name Kinsey?
Find out how many people share the name Kinsey on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.