Girls' name · peaked in 2012
Kinley name popularity since 1925
20,297 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kinley (98.3% girls, 1.7% boys). Half of them were born in 2014 or earlier, so the typical Kinley is about 12 years old in 2026. Kinley peaked in 2012 as the #180 name for girls, and it ranked #692 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 20,297
- Named Kinley, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #692
- for girls in 2025 (409 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 98.3% girls
- 19,959 girls · 338 boys
- Most popular in
- Arkansas
- 2.64× its national share
Peak year is the year Kinley made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Kinley births per year, 1925–2025
2012 was the biggest year for Kinley both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 2006 and 2011, Kinley became 6.1× more common, from 1 in 6,510 baby girls to 1 in 1,070.
- Steepest fall: Between 2014 and 2019, its share of baby girls fell by 49%, from 1 in 1,100 to 1 in 2,180.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kinley's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kinley.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kinley in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 17 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 0 | 10 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 0 | 26 | Under 5 |
| 1970s | 5 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1980s | 42 | 5 | #7,254 |
| 1990s | 353 | 49 | #5,131 |
| 2000s | 2,897 | 72 | #1,012 |
| 2010s | 13,351 | 134 | #235 |
| 2020–25 | 3,311 | 25 | #692 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
59.2% of babies named Kinley from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:
Where Kinley is most popular
The index compares Kinley's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Kinley.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 2.64× | 519 |
| Kansas | 2.49× | 486 |
| Nebraska | 2.48× | 333 |
| Oklahoma | 2.48× | 619 |
| Utah | 2.18× | 355 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kinley and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Kinley (this page) | 19,959 | 2012 |
| Kinlee | 2,681 | 2014 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kinley's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kinley.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kinley (2012).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data