Kinsley
Anglicized form of the Scottish surname Kingsley, meaning "king's meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 47,174 living Americans carry the first name Kinsley. It sits at #85 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Kinsley today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kinsley births was 2017 (4,064 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Kelvin (47,166).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kinsley. 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 Kinsley with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kinsley is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 215 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Kinsley is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
47K
~ 1 in 7,266 Americans
Peak year
2017
4,064 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#85
Tracked since 1978
Census
Kinsley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 27,214 people with the first name Kinsley, which placed it at #1,333 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
#1,333
National first-name rank
People counted
27K
27,214 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kinsley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinsley is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Kinsley 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 Kinsley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 21,459
- Black or African American8.7% · 2,362
- Two or more races5.7% · 1,539
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 1,410
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 233
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 211
Gender
Gender distribution for Kinsley
Out of the 47,526 babies given the name Kinsley since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kinsley as a male name
- Ranked #7,496 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (16 births)
Kinsley as a female name
- Ranked #85 in 2024
- 2,929 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (4,051 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kinsley appears almost entirely female. Of the 27,209 people counted with this name, 99.0% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kinsley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kinsley from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 26,379 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kinsley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kinsley 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 Kinsley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kinsleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Kinsley, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 908 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kinsley
Kinsley is an English given name that has its roots in the Old English language. It is believed to be derived from the combination of two words: "cyning" meaning "king" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." Thus, the name Kinsley can be interpreted as "the king's meadow" or "the meadow of the king."
The earliest recorded use of the name Kinsley dates back to the late 11th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Kinsley de Warenne, a Norman nobleman who lived during the reign of William the Conqueror in the late 11th century. He was granted lands in Yorkshire and Sussex after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
In the Middle Ages, the name Kinsley was primarily used by members of the English nobility and aristocracy. It was often associated with landowners and those who held positions of power and influence. However, over time, the name gradually spread to other social classes as well.
Kinsley has also been mentioned in various historical texts and records throughout the centuries. For instance, in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, there are several references to places named Kinsley or variations thereof.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kinsley. One of the earliest recorded was Kinsley de Warenne, mentioned earlier. Another was Kinsley Haviland (1564-1642), an English merchant and explorer who was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America.
In the 18th century, Kinsley Ingham (1736-1821) was a British politician and Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds. Kinsley Gregg (1799-1887) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 12th Governor of New Hampshire from 1855 to 1857.
In more recent times, Kinsley Amis (1922-1995) was a renowned British novelist, poet, and critic, best known for his novels such as "Lucky Jim" and "The Old Devils." He was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Kinsley throughout history, showcasing its rich heritage and cultural significance.
People
Kinsley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kinsley 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
Kinsley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kinsley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 47,174 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kinsley 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 7,266 US residents.
Is Kinsley a common name?
We classify Kinsley as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 47,526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kinsley most popular?
The single biggest year for Kinsley was 2017, when 4,064 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kinsley is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kinsley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 27,214 people with the name Kinsley, or 9.01 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,333 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 Kinsley 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 Kinsley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kinsley appears almost entirely female. Of the 27,209 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Kinsley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinsley is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Kinsley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kinsley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (21,459 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 Kinsley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kinsley a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Kinsley 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 Kinsley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kinsley 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 Kinsley 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 are called Kinsley?
Find out how many Americans are named Kinsley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.