Kirk
A masculine name derived from the Old Norse word kirk meaning "church".
Name Census estimates that about 57,262 living Americans carry the first name Kirk. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kirk today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kirk births was 1962 (2,558 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kirk. 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 Kirk with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kirk is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 197 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Kirk have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
57K
~ 1 in 5,986 Americans
Peak year
1962
2,558 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,579
Tracked since 1880
Census
Kirk in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 55,258 people with the first name Kirk, which placed it at #840 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
#840
National first-name rank
People counted
55K
55,258 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
18.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirk
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirk is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Kirk 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 Kirk at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.8% · 45,211
- Black or African American10.6% · 5,878
- Two or more races2.7% · 1,483
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 1,434
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 887
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 365
Gender
Gender distribution for Kirk
Out of the 68,217 babies given the name Kirk since 1880, 99.7% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Kirk as a male name
- Ranked #2,579 in 2024
- 52 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1962 (2,558 births)
Kirk as a female name
- Ranked #12,642 in 1993
- 6 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1970 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kirk appears almost entirely male. Of the 55,261 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Kirk: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kirk from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 22,277 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kirk 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 Kirk during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kirks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Kirk, while Delaware, Vermont, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,246 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kirk
The name Kirk originates from the northern English and Scottish word "kirk" or "cyrce", which derives from the Old English "cirice" and the Greek "kurikon". It means "church" or "lord's house". The name traces its roots back to the 5th century CE, when Christianity spread across the British Isles.
Kirk was initially a surname, referring to people who lived near or worked at a church. Over time, it transitioned into a given name. Some of the earliest recorded instances of Kirk as a first name date back to the 16th century in Scotland and northern England.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Kirk was Kirk White, an English poet born in 1785 and died in 1806. He was known for his romantic poetry and his premature death from tuberculosis at the age of 21.
In the 19th century, Kirk was a relatively uncommon first name, but it gained popularity in the 20th century. One of the most famous people with the name Kirk is Kirk Douglas, the American actor, producer, and author born in 1916 and died in 2020. He was known for his roles in films such as "Spartacus" and "Paths of Glory".
Another notable Kirk was Kirk Franklin, the American gospel musician, born in 1970. He is one of the most successful contemporary gospel artists, with numerous Grammy and Stellar Awards.
In the world of sports, Kirk Hinrich, born in 1981, is a former American professional basketball player who played in the NBA for 13 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bulls.
Kirk Cameron, born in 1970, is an American actor and evangelist, best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the television sitcom "Growing Pains" in the 1980s.
While these are just a few examples, the name Kirk has been used throughout history by individuals from various walks of life, reflecting its enduring popularity and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kirk
People
Kirk + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kirk 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
Kirk: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kirk?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 57,262 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kirk 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 5,986 US residents.
Is Kirk a common name?
We classify Kirk as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 68,217 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kirk most popular?
The single biggest year for Kirk was 1962, when 2,558 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kirk is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kirk in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 55,258 people with the name Kirk, or 18.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #840 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 Kirk 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 Kirk?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kirk appears almost entirely male. Of the 55,261 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Kirk?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirk is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Kirk most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kirk in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.8% (45,211 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 Kirk in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kirk a male name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Kirk 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 Kirk still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kirk 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 Kirk 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 Americans are named Kirk?
See how many people have the name Kirk on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.