Meaning not yet researched.
Kay: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 37 in 2025. Its best rank was #70 in 1941.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #70 in 1941; #3,946 in 2025. About 79% of babies named Kay in 2025 were girls.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#3,946 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1941, at #70.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Kay: US girls and boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 37 girls in 2025. Peak: #70 in 1941 · most girls in one year: 3,622 (1942).
In 2025, 37 US girls were named Kay, making it the 3,946th most common girls’ name of the year, down 20 places from #3,926 in 2024. That is 1 fewer than the 38 girls named Kay in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #70, reached in 1941. The most girls given the name in a single year was 3,622, in 1942. For comparison, it was #3,632 in 2015 and #123 in 1950.
In 2025, 10 US boys were named Kay, making it the 7,951st most common boys’ name of the year, down 1,617 places from #6,334 in 2024. That is 4 fewer than the 14 boys named Kay in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #448, reached in 1934. That year also had the most boys given the name: 159. For comparison, it was #9,163 in 2015 and #1,278 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Kay in 142 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1882 with 5 babies. In all, 102,545 US babies have been given the name, 96% of them girls and 3.8% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1940s, with 33,379 babies named Kay.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 458 US girls were named Kay; the busiest of those years was 2018, with 63. In 2025 that was about 1 in 43,440 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Kayla (347,144 babies since 1880), Kai (78,710 babies since 1880), Kaia (20,967 babies since 1880) and Kaye (13,707 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Kae, Kao and Kayah are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch and English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Kae (753), Kao (719), Kayah (512), Kaio (429), Kaeo (365), Kayo (284), Cay (252), Caya (192), Cauy (187), Kayia (128), Kaii (119), Kaho (108), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 37 | #3,946 | 10 | #7,951 |
| 2024 | 38 | #3,926 | 14 | #6,334 |
| 2023 | 48 | #3,349 | 13 | #6,719 |
| 2022 | 47 | #3,391 | 10 | #8,049 |
| 2021 | 42 | #3,644 | 9 | #8,517 |
| 2020 | 42 | #3,577 | 10 | #7,805 |
| 2019 | 43 | #3,586 | 7 | #10,303 |
| 2018 | 63 | #2,723 | 6 | #11,492 |
| 2017 | 51 | #3,175 | 8 | #9,294 |
| 2016 | 47 | #3,399 | 5 | #13,233 |
| 2015 | 43 | #3,632 | 8 | #9,163 |
| 2014 | 60 | #2,870 | 6 | #11,439 |
| 2013 | 51 | #3,204 | — | — |
| 2012 | 52 | #3,191 | — | — |
| 2011 | 47 | #3,432 | — | — |
| 2010 | 47 | #3,443 | — | — |
| 2009 | 41 | #3,836 | — | — |
| 2008 | 46 | #3,555 | — | — |
| 2007 | 66 | #2,768 | — | — |
| 2006 | 63 | #2,795 | — | — |
| 2005 | 61 | #2,746 | 5 | #12,409 |
| 2004 | 67 | #2,515 | 7 | #9,462 |
| 2003 | 66 | #2,477 | 6 | #10,250 |
| 2002 | 79 | #2,129 | — | — |
| 2001 | 72 | #2,249 | — | — |
| 2000 | 74 | #2,163 | — | — |
| 1999 | 66 | #2,270 | — | — |
| 1998 | 70 | #2,094 | 5 | #10,480 |
| 1997 | 74 | #1,954 | — | — |
| 1996 | 67 | #2,074 | 6 | #8,470 |
| 1995 | 82 | #1,768 | 5 | #9,603 |
| 1994 | 88 | #1,695 | 7 | #7,372 |
| 1993 | 100 | #1,558 | 6 | #8,157 |
| 1992 | 104 | #1,511 | 5 | #9,127 |
| 1991 | 104 | #1,503 | 8 | #6,238 |
| 1990 | 114 | #1,393 | 5 | #8,823 |
| 1989 | 117 | #1,329 | 5 | #8,576 |
| 1988 | 141 | #1,105 | 9 | #5,010 |
| 1987 | 118 | #1,218 | 7 | #5,792 |
| 1986 | 129 | #1,123 | 7 | #5,654 |
| 1985 | 139 | #1,063 | — | — |
| 1984 | 147 | #983 | 6 | #5,982 |
| 1983 | 150 | #975 | — | — |
| 1982 | 151 | #982 | 8 | #4,815 |
| 1981 | 164 | #916 | 8 | #4,747 |
| 1980 | 153 | #969 | 5 | #6,766 |
| 1979 | 156 | #944 | 8 | #4,637 |
| 1978 | 155 | #916 | 6 | #5,429 |
| 1977 | 195 | #775 | 7 | #4,869 |
| 1976 | 191 | #758 | 7 | #4,680 |
| 1975 | 206 | #720 | — | — |
| 1974 | 239 | #640 | 9 | #3,706 |
| 1973 | 272 | #581 | 5 | #5,482 |
| 1972 | 251 | #620 | 6 | #4,721 |
| 1971 | 376 | #504 | 8 | #3,804 |
| 1970 | 476 | #455 | 8 | #3,677 |
| 1969 | 498 | #433 | 10 | #2,964 |
| 1968 | 637 | #353 | 10 | #2,827 |
| 1967 | 711 | #327 | 10 | #2,692 |
| 1966 | 856 | #295 | 9 | #2,883 |
| 1965 | 1,021 | #270 | 17 | #1,961 |
| 1964 | 1,301 | #243 | 18 | #1,939 |
| 1963 | 1,608 | #212 | 15 | #2,162 |
| 1962 | 1,878 | #197 | 20 | #1,835 |
| 1961 | 1,955 | #192 | 26 | #1,585 |
| 1960 | 1,925 | #192 | 29 | #1,504 |
| 1959 | 2,004 | #182 | 26 | #1,571 |
| 1958 | 2,238 | #169 | 25 | #1,571 |
| 1957 | 2,355 | #163 | 37 | #1,289 |
| 1956 | 2,394 | #154 | 27 | #1,521 |
| 1955 | 2,327 | #157 | 36 | #1,260 |
| 1954 | 2,506 | #146 | 36 | #1,256 |
| 1953 | 2,462 | #146 | 33 | #1,320 |
| 1952 | 2,768 | #133 | 35 | #1,258 |
| 1951 | 2,963 | #120 | 34 | #1,269 |
| 1950 | 2,628 | #123 | 32 | #1,278 |
| 1949 | 2,751 | #119 | 46 | #1,040 |
| 1948 | 2,943 | #113 | 42 | #1,100 |
| 1947 | 3,520 | #104 | 59 | #910 |
| 1946 | 3,358 | #101 | 44 | #1,038 |
| 1945 | 3,058 | #91 | 51 | #893 |
| 1944 | 3,170 | #88 | 69 | #750 |
| 1943 | 3,494 | #81 | 98 | #646 |
| 1942 | 3,622 | #75 | 96 | #656 |
| 1941 | 3,538 | #70 | 96 | #618 |
| 1940 | 3,200 | #77 | 124 | #522 |
| 1939 | 3,260 | #76 | 123 | #513 |
| 1938 | 3,114 | #81 | 120 | #532 |
| 1937 | 3,010 | #79 | 129 | #507 |
| 1936 | 2,408 | #98 | 137 | #483 |
| 1935 | 1,648 | #134 | 150 | #465 |
| 1934 | 1,430 | #143 | 159 | #448 |
| 1933 | 864 | #200 | 135 | #483 |
| 1932 | 658 | #238 | 124 | #522 |
| 1931 | 558 | #259 | 124 | #521 |
| 1930 | 351 | #358 | 105 | #588 |
| 1929 | 218 | #448 | 80 | #691 |
| 1928 | 223 | #463 | 84 | #692 |
| 1927 | 267 | #419 | 102 | #623 |
| 1926 | 224 | #457 | 77 | #727 |
| 1925 | 248 | #439 | 67 | #811 |
| 1924 | 302 | #395 | 77 | #768 |
| 1923 | 285 | #396 | 85 | #704 |
| 1922 | 281 | #391 | 63 | #868 |
| 1921 | 304 | #383 | 60 | #905 |
| 1920 | 313 | #370 | 65 | #839 |
| 1919 | 330 | #355 | 40 | #1,093 |
| 1918 | 311 | #368 | 58 | #877 |
| 1917 | 283 | #377 | 40 | #1,053 |
| 1916 | 272 | #380 | 46 | #944 |
| 1915 | 243 | #386 | 31 | #1,172 |
| 1914 | 215 | #361 | 25 | #1,175 |
| 1913 | 159 | #381 | 20 | #1,159 |
| 1912 | 143 | #386 | 17 | #1,154 |
| 1911 | 111 | #382 | 9 | #1,238 |
| 1910 | 106 | #382 | 6 | #1,510 |
| 1909 | 83 | #402 | — | — |
| 1908 | 75 | #418 | 6 | #1,300 |
| 1907 | 53 | #493 | 6 | #1,266 |
| 1906 | 42 | #547 | 5 | #1,337 |
| 1905 | 49 | #485 | 5 | #1,335 |
| 1904 | 39 | #532 | — | — |
| 1903 | 37 | #535 | 5 | #1,216 |
| 1902 | 26 | #659 | 5 | #1,230 |
| 1901 | 22 | #694 | — | — |
| 1900 | 26 | #714 | 7 | #1,111 |
| 1899 | 23 | #654 | 5 | #1,136 |
| 1898 | 14 | #942 | — | — |
| 1897 | 15 | #846 | 5 | #1,149 |
| 1896 | 13 | #927 | — | — |
| 1895 | 10 | #1,088 | — | — |
| 1894 | 14 | #826 | 6 | #1,021 |
| 1893 | 16 | #751 | — | — |
| 1892 | 7 | #1,219 | — | — |
| 1891 | 5 | #1,424 | — | — |
| 1890 | 5 | #1,423 | — | — |
| 1889 | 7 | #1,077 | — | — |
| 1888 | 6 | #1,212 | 6 | #989 |
| 1887 | 6 | #1,089 | — | — |
| 1886 | 6 | #1,037 | — | — |
| 1885 | 6 | #987 | — | — |
| 1882 | — | — | 5 | #1,019 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).