Kylin
A mythological hoofed creature in Chinese folklore combining features of a deer and a dragon.
Name Census estimates that about 3,286 living Americans carry the first name Kylin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 60.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Kylin today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kylin births was 2022 (201 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kylin. 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.
Key insights
- • Kylin sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Kylin is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 104,307 Americans
Peak year
2022
201 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,511
Tracked since 1987
Census
Kylin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,159 people with the first name Kylin, which placed it at #7,141 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
#7,141
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,159 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kylin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kylin is White at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Black (39.8%) and Two or More Races (10.6%). 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 Kylin 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 Kylin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.0% · 863
- Black or African American39.8% · 860
- Two or more races10.6% · 229
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 127
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 46
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Kylin
Kylin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,321 total registrations, 1,997 (60.1%) were male and 1,324 (39.9%) were female.
Kylin as a male name
- Ranked #1,511 in 2024
- 118 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (149 births)
Kylin as a female name
- Ranked #3,917 in 2024
- 38 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (74 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kylin on both sides of the split. Of the 2,164 people counted with this name, 1,120 were male (51.8%) and 1,044 were female (48.2%).
Popularity
Kylin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kylin from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,353 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kylin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kylin 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 Kylin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kylins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, Florida recorded the most babies named Kylin, while Virginia, New York, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kylin
The name Kylin is a variant spelling of the mythical creature from East Asian mythology known as the Qilin or Kirin. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Chinese tradition, where it was revered as a powerful and benevolent creature that symbolized prosperity, serenity, and fertility.
According to Chinese legend, the Qilin was a hybrid creature with the body of a deer, the head of a dragon, and the tail of an ox. It was said to appear only in times of peace and harmony, and its presence was believed to herald the birth or reign of a wise and virtuous ruler. The name itself is derived from the combination of the Chinese characters "qi" (meaning "male") and "lin" (meaning "female"), reflecting the harmonious union of the yin and yang principles.
One of the earliest references to the Qilin can be found in the ancient Chinese text, the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," which dates back to the 4th century BCE. The creature also appears in various other Chinese literary works, such as the "Shan Hai Jing" and the "Zhuangzi," further solidifying its place in Chinese mythology.
While the name Kylin is not commonly used as a given name, there are a few notable individuals throughout history who have borne this name or its variants. One such example is Kylin Muñoz (born 1979), a Mexican-American actress known for her roles in films and television series like "Mayans M.C." and "Queen of the South."
Another notable individual is Kylin Kalani (born 1991), an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist who has competed in various promotions, including Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor.
In the world of sports, there is Kylin Munoz (born 2001), an American soccer player who currently plays as a midfielder for the Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League.
Additionally, Kylin Miles (born 1993) is an Australian professional basketball player who has played for several teams in the Australian National Basketball League and overseas.
Lastly, Kylin Cosse (born 1995) is a Canadian actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films, including "The Twilight Zone" and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2."
It is worth noting that while the name Kylin has its roots in Chinese mythology, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions, with individuals from diverse backgrounds embracing this unique and mythical moniker.
People
Kylin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kylin 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
Kylin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kylin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kylin 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 104,307 US residents.
Is Kylin a common name?
We classify Kylin as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,321 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kylin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kylin was 2022, when 201 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kylin is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kylin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,159 people with the name Kylin, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,141 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 Kylin 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 Kylin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kylin on both sides of the split. Of the 2,164 people counted with this name, 1,120 were male (51.8%) and 1,044 were female (48.2%). 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 Kylin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kylin is White at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Black (39.8%) and Two or More Races (10.6%). 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 Kylin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kylin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.0% (863 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 Kylin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kylin a male name?
Yes, 60.1% of people registered as Kylin 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 Kylin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kylin 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 Kylin 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 Kylin?
You can see how many people share the name Kylin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.