Kory
A masculine given name derived from a shortening of "Kornelios", meaning "horn."
Name Census estimates that about 14,932 living Americans carry the first name Kory. It is a predominantly male name (91.5% of registrations). The average person named Kory today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kory births was 1989 (651 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kory. 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 Kory with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,954 Americans
Peak year
1989
651 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,972
Tracked since 1952
Census
Kory in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,278 people with the first name Kory, which placed it at #2,047 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
#2,047
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
13,278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kory
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kory is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.4%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Kory 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 Kory at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.2% · 10,247
- Black or African American10.4% · 1,383
- Two or more races4.7% · 628
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 583
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 296
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 141
Gender
Gender distribution for Kory
Kory leans heavily male at 91.5% of total registrations, but 1,330 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kory as a male name
- Ranked #2,972 in 2024
- 42 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (601 births)
Kory as a female name
- Ranked #9,236 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kory leans strongly male. 12,070 people counted with this name were male (90.9%), compared with 1,207 female bearers (9.1%).
Popularity
Kory: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kory from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 4,510 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kory 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 Kory during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Korys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kory, while West Virginia, Maine, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 240 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kory
The name Kory is believed to have originated from the Greek name Korios, which means "lord" or "master." This name traces its roots back to ancient Greece and the classical period.
In Greek mythology, the name Korios was associated with a minor deity or spirit who was thought to protect young children. It was a name often bestowed upon male children as a way to invoke this protective spirit.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kory can be found in ancient Greek texts and inscriptions dating back to the 5th century BCE. One notable example is the Greek historian Herodotus, who mentioned a man named Korios in his famous work "The Histories."
As the Greek culture and language spread throughout the Mediterranean region, the name Korios and its variations, such as Kory, became more widespread. It was particularly popular among the Byzantine Greeks, who adopted Christianity and used the name as a way to honor their cultural heritage.
In the Middle Ages, the name Kory was found in various European regions, including parts of Italy, France, and Germany, where it was likely introduced by Greek settlers or traders.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kory. One such person was Kory Istrati, a 15th-century Byzantine scholar and theologian who wrote extensively on Orthodox Christian doctrine.
Another notable figure was Kory Mikhailovich, a 17th-century Russian nobleman and military leader who fought in the Russo-Polish War and played a significant role in the expansion of the Russian Empire.
In the 19th century, Kory Radinski was a prominent Serbian artist and painter known for his portraits and landscapes. He was born in 1828 and his works are still celebrated in Serbia today.
During the early 20th century, Kory Svendsen was a Norwegian explorer and adventurer who led several expeditions to the Arctic regions. He was born in 1892 and made significant contributions to the exploration and mapping of the Arctic.
More recently, Kory Stamper is an American lexicographer and author who has worked for Merriam-Webster and has written about the fascinating world of dictionaries and language. She was born in 1980 and continues to be an influential figure in the field of lexicography.
People
Kory + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kory 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
Kory: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kory?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,932 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kory 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 22,954 US residents.
Is Kory a common name?
We classify Kory as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,680 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kory most popular?
The single biggest year for Kory was 1989, when 651 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kory is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kory in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,278 people with the name Kory, or 4.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,047 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 Kory 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 Kory?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kory leans strongly male. 12,070 people counted with this name were male (90.9%), compared with 1,207 female bearers (9.1%). 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 Kory?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kory is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.4%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Kory most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kory in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (10,247 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 Kory in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kory a male name?
Yes, 91.5% of people registered as Kory 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 Kory still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kory 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 Kory 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 Kory as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Kory on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.