Meaning not yet researched.
Kelsey: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 335 in 2025. Its best rank was #23 in 1992.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #23 in 1992; #814 in 2025. About 96% of babies named Kelsey in 2025 were girls.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#814 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1992, at #23.
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.
Kelsey: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 335 girls in 2025. Peak: #23 in 1992 · most girls in one year: 11,713 (1992).
In 2025, 335 US girls were named Kelsey, making it the 814th most common girls’ name of the year, down 141 places from #673 in 2024. That is 95 fewer than the 430 girls named Kelsey in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #23, reached in 1992. That year also had the most girls given the name: 11,713. For comparison, it was #344 in 2015 and #3,555 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Kelsey in 116 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1891 with 5 babies. In all, 155,738 US babies have been given the name, 97% of them girls and 3.4% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1990s, with 86,599 babies named Kelsey.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 5,777 US girls were named Kelsey; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 859. In 2025 that was about 1 in 4,798 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Kelsey ranked highest in Maryland in 2025, at #445 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Kelcey (2,821 babies since 1880), Kelsie (19,936 babies since 1880), Kelsi (10,151 babies since 1880) and Kelsea (6,040 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Kelcee, Kellsey and Kelsei 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. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Kelcee (770), Kellsey (439), Kelsei (337), Kelsye (112), Kelsia (17), Kellsy (14), Kellsea (13), Kelcea (7), Kelcei (5).
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.
No nicknames listed for Kelsey in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 24 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 12 | #445 | #366 |
| Tennessee | 17 | #464 | #247 |
| Connecticut | 6 | #511 | #325 |
| Iowa | 6 | #536 | #226 |
| Kentucky | 8 | #537 | #301 |
| Massachusetts | 9 | #591 | #296 |
| Georgia | 17 | #633 | #268 |
| Oklahoma | 6 | #661 | #404 |
| Wisconsin | 7 | #666 | #467 |
| New York | 24 | #688 | #322 |
| New Jersey | 11 | #690 | #319 |
| Ohio | 13 | #728 | #219 |
| Utah | 5 | #765 | #665 |
| Minnesota | 6 | #786 | #396 |
| Pennsylvania | 12 | #789 | #213 |
| Louisiana | 5 | #842 | #275 |
| Texas | 34 | #867 | #515 |
| California | 34 | #868 | #598 |
| Indiana | 7 | #869 | #554 |
| Illinois | 10 | #885 | #338 |
| Florida | 18 | #897 | #351 |
| Arizona | 6 | #976 | #477 |
| Virginia | 7 | #988 | #239 |
| Missouri | 5 | #1,007 | #431 |
| Michigan | 7 | #1,017 | #295 |
| Washington | 5 | #1,148 | #422 |
| North Carolina | 7 | #1,212 | #265 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 335 | #814 | 14 | #6,286 |
| 2024 | 430 | #673 | 7 | #10,422 |
| 2023 | 444 | #664 | 11 | #7,528 |
| 2022 | 466 | #633 | 23 | #4,508 |
| 2021 | 477 | #624 | 11 | #7,376 |
| 2020 | 574 | #526 | 15 | #5,847 |
| 2019 | 664 | #471 | 16 | #5,694 |
| 2018 | 740 | #421 | 17 | #5,431 |
| 2017 | 788 | #397 | 19 | #5,028 |
| 2016 | 859 | #383 | 10 | #7,894 |
| 2015 | 955 | #344 | 18 | #5,179 |
| 2014 | 1,017 | #328 | 20 | #4,779 |
| 2013 | 1,049 | #304 | 12 | #6,831 |
| 2012 | 1,214 | #267 | 27 | #3,842 |
| 2011 | 1,266 | #254 | 25 | #4,049 |
| 2010 | 1,349 | #233 | 19 | #4,945 |
| 2009 | 1,521 | #212 | 24 | #4,219 |
| 2008 | 1,716 | #195 | 33 | #3,391 |
| 2007 | 1,699 | #202 | 38 | #3,057 |
| 2006 | 1,898 | #185 | 47 | #2,561 |
| 2005 | 1,960 | #173 | 38 | #2,822 |
| 2004 | 2,198 | #148 | 72 | #1,756 |
| 2003 | 2,569 | #130 | 42 | #2,491 |
| 2002 | 2,883 | #118 | 51 | #2,109 |
| 2001 | 3,267 | #100 | 70 | #1,670 |
| 2000 | 3,669 | #88 | 62 | #1,773 |
| 1999 | 4,400 | #72 | 91 | #1,324 |
| 1998 | 5,551 | #56 | 99 | #1,233 |
| 1997 | 5,573 | #57 | 99 | #1,202 |
| 1996 | 7,655 | #36 | 140 | #932 |
| 1995 | 8,184 | #33 | 157 | #868 |
| 1994 | 9,749 | #29 | 166 | #827 |
| 1993 | 11,380 | #24 | 161 | #830 |
| 1992 | 11,713 | #23 | 169 | #806 |
| 1991 | 11,435 | #26 | 186 | #748 |
| 1990 | 9,494 | #32 | 197 | #727 |
| 1989 | 9,256 | #31 | 250 | #631 |
| 1988 | 5,452 | #64 | 213 | #650 |
| 1987 | 4,574 | #67 | 161 | #723 |
| 1986 | 2,517 | #112 | 140 | #769 |
| 1985 | 1,699 | #168 | 121 | #809 |
| 1984 | 1,555 | #177 | 122 | #789 |
| 1983 | 1,116 | #224 | 115 | #817 |
| 1982 | 791 | #310 | 106 | #867 |
| 1981 | 490 | #434 | 100 | #892 |
| 1980 | 308 | #603 | 94 | #921 |
| 1979 | 222 | #738 | 90 | #928 |
| 1978 | 164 | #888 | 84 | #948 |
| 1977 | 144 | #961 | 84 | #931 |
| 1976 | 116 | #1,061 | 101 | #834 |
| 1975 | 105 | #1,113 | 97 | #849 |
| 1974 | 88 | #1,246 | 73 | #958 |
| 1973 | 77 | #1,320 | 73 | #946 |
| 1972 | 76 | #1,332 | 73 | #947 |
| 1971 | 71 | #1,459 | 71 | #969 |
| 1970 | 48 | #1,843 | 72 | #945 |
| 1969 | 45 | #1,854 | 38 | #1,289 |
| 1968 | 24 | #2,581 | 39 | #1,227 |
| 1967 | 32 | #2,101 | 24 | #1,587 |
| 1966 | 17 | #3,101 | 23 | #1,633 |
| 1965 | 16 | #3,198 | 17 | #1,962 |
| 1964 | 20 | #2,865 | 23 | #1,679 |
| 1963 | 22 | #2,657 | 18 | #1,930 |
| 1962 | 19 | #2,864 | 21 | #1,783 |
| 1961 | 18 | #3,013 | 15 | #2,186 |
| 1960 | 13 | #3,582 | 21 | #1,794 |
| 1959 | 15 | #3,172 | 25 | #1,608 |
| 1958 | 23 | #2,416 | 13 | #2,317 |
| 1957 | 12 | #3,577 | 19 | #1,865 |
| 1956 | 12 | #3,585 | 22 | #1,699 |
| 1955 | 16 | #2,895 | 13 | #2,265 |
| 1954 | 14 | #3,086 | 19 | #1,792 |
| 1953 | 18 | #2,558 | 14 | #2,148 |
| 1952 | 10 | #3,669 | 13 | #2,210 |
| 1951 | 9 | #3,852 | 17 | #1,875 |
| 1950 | 10 | #3,555 | 9 | #2,674 |
| 1949 | 6 | #4,970 | 24 | #1,527 |
| 1948 | 9 | #3,736 | 19 | #1,738 |
| 1947 | 8 | #4,170 | 8 | #2,993 |
| 1946 | 7 | #4,216 | 16 | #1,851 |
| 1945 | 6 | #4,288 | 12 | #2,067 |
| 1944 | — | — | 12 | #2,128 |
| 1943 | — | — | 12 | #2,229 |
| 1942 | 5 | #4,986 | 14 | #1,997 |
| 1941 | — | — | 11 | #2,268 |
| 1940 | — | — | 8 | #2,765 |
| 1939 | — | — | 10 | #2,359 |
| 1938 | — | — | 12 | #2,135 |
| 1937 | — | — | 15 | #1,876 |
| 1936 | — | — | 8 | #2,743 |
| 1935 | — | — | 8 | #2,828 |
| 1934 | — | — | 5 | #3,947 |
| 1933 | — | — | 10 | #2,455 |
| 1932 | — | — | 11 | #2,395 |
| 1931 | — | — | 12 | #2,270 |
| 1930 | — | — | 16 | #1,931 |
| 1929 | — | — | 11 | #2,513 |
| 1928 | — | — | 12 | #2,460 |
| 1927 | — | — | 10 | #2,810 |
| 1926 | — | — | 15 | #2,135 |
| 1925 | — | — | 18 | #1,906 |
| 1924 | — | — | 14 | #2,298 |
| 1923 | — | — | 16 | #2,073 |
| 1922 | — | — | 10 | #2,907 |
| 1921 | — | — | 15 | #2,213 |
| 1920 | — | — | 7 | #3,658 |
| 1919 | — | — | 13 | #2,327 |
| 1918 | — | — | 15 | #2,119 |
| 1917 | — | — | 11 | #2,495 |
| 1916 | — | — | 13 | #2,208 |
| 1915 | — | — | 9 | #2,729 |
| 1914 | — | — | 10 | #2,193 |
| 1913 | — | — | 11 | #1,744 |
| 1912 | — | — | 10 | #1,686 |
| 1910 | — | — | 5 | #1,728 |
| 1891 | — | — | 5 | #1,048 |
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).