ninan.org

Kelsey

Girls' name · Millennial-era

Living in the US
~152,600 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#814 among girls
Births in 2025
349 155,738 since 1880
Typical age
31 years, median

Kelsey popularity over time

Kelsey rank by birth year, 1942–2025Kelsey ranked #4,622 in 1942 and #814 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #23, in 1992.#100#1,000#814best #23 in 19921960198020002020
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1942–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Kelsey in 1992 than in any other year — 11,882 of them. It first clears the SSA reporting threshold in 1891. It has held a top-100 place in 15 separate years.

As of 2025 the name sits at #814, with 349 births that year. The ten-year change is -64%. Year on year the rank dropped by 141.

Babies named Kelsey per yearPeaks at 11,882 births in 1992.11,882 in 199201920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Kelsey?

An estimated 152,600 living Americans are called Kelsey. That is out of 155,738 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Kelsey?

Median age among living Kelseys: 31. The 1990s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Kelsey a millennial-era name.

Your Kelsey

Ages of living people named KelseyHalf of living Kelseys are older than 31 and half younger.median 31020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Kelsey is most common

Kelsey is 1.9× as common in Maryland as it is nationally. Mississippi, New York and Alabama follow.

Where Kelsey is used more than average5 states use the name Kelsey more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.7× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: 1.6× the national rateCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 1.9× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: 1.8× the national rateMSAlabama: 1.7× the national rateALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Kelsey is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Maryland 151 1.9×
Mississippi 67 1.8×
New York 497 1.7×
Alabama 117 1.7×
Connecticut 71 1.6×

Is Kelsey a boy's or a girl's name?

97% girls3% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

Across the whole record, 96.6% of births under the name were girls. The name has changed sides: it began mostly on one sex and ends mostly on the other.

Kelsey in England and Wales

ONS recorded 25 births named Kelsey in 2025, ranking it #1,271.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Kelsey comes from

From Old English cēol (“ship”) + siġe (“victory”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Kelsey

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Kelsey Grammer American actor 1955 63
Kelsey Asbille American actress 1991 32
Kelsey Plum American basketball player 1994 26
Kelsey Serwa Canadian freestyle skier 1989 21
Kelsey Robinson American volleyball player and beach volleyball player 1992 20
Kelsey Bevan New Zealand rower 1990 17
Kelsey Nakanelua American Samoan athletics competitor 1966 10
Kelsey Mann American film director 1974 10
Photo credits (6)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 2,657 in 1986 to 4,735 in 1987 — 1.8 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Kelsey

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/kelsey.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).