Kylene
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "fair and clear complexion".
Name Census estimates that about 1,596 living Americans carry the first name Kylene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kylene today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kylene births was 1979 (205 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kylene. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 214,758 Americans
Peak year
1979
205 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,527
Tracked since 1948
Census
Kylene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,549 people with the first name Kylene, which placed it at #9,116 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
#9,116
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,549 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kylene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kylene is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.3%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Kylene 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 Kylene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.7% · 1,172
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 128
- Two or more races4.9% · 76
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 72
- Black or African American3.6% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 45
Popularity
Kylene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kylene from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 610 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
Kylene 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 Kylene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kylenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kylene, while Virginia, Oregon, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kylene
Kylene is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word "kylindros," which means "roller" or "cylinder." The name is believed to have originated around the 5th century BCE in ancient Greece, where it was likely used as a descriptive term for someone who worked with rollers or cylinders.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kylene dates back to the 3rd century BCE, where it was mentioned in a Greek inscription found in the city of Ephesus, located in present-day Turkey. The inscription was a dedication to the goddess Artemis, and it listed the names of several women who had made offerings to the temple, one of whom was named Kylene.
In ancient Greek mythology, there is a reference to a nymph named Kylene, who was said to have been one of the companions of the goddess Artemis. This mythological figure may have contributed to the popularity of the name among ancient Greeks.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kylene. One of the earliest was Kylene of Syracuse, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 4th century BCE and was a follower of the Pythagorean school of thought. Another notable Kylene was Kylene of Thessaly, a Greek poet who lived in the 3rd century BCE and wrote about the exploits of Alexander the Great.
In the Middle Ages, the name Kylene was relatively rare, but there are records of a few individuals who bore the name. One such person was Kylene of Burgundy, a nun who lived in the 12th century and was known for her piety and devotion to the Catholic Church.
During the Renaissance period, the name Kylene experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in Italy. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Kylene Sforza, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 15th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and her political influence in the city of Milan.
In more recent times, the name Kylene has been used by several notable individuals, including Kylene Barker, an American actress and singer who was born in 1973, and Kylene Delaney, an American volleyball player who competed in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.
People
Kylene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kylene 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
Kylene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kylene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,596 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kylene 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 214,758 US residents.
Is Kylene a common name?
We classify Kylene as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,693 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kylene most popular?
The single biggest year for Kylene was 1979, when 205 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kylene 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 Kylene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,549 people with the name Kylene, or 0.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,116 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 Kylene 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 Kylene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kylene appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,545 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Kylene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kylene is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.3%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Kylene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kylene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.7% (1,172 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 Kylene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kylene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kylene 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 Kylene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kylene 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 Kylene 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 named Kylene?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.