Kacey
A gender-neutral name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the surname Casey.
Name Census estimates that about 14,375 living Americans carry the first name Kacey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 79.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Kacey today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kacey births was 1991 (463 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kacey. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kacey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 23,844 Americans
Peak year
1991
463 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,043
Tracked since 1952
Census
Kacey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,715 people with the first name Kacey, which placed it at #2,234 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
#2,234
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
11,715 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kacey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kacey is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (7.7%). 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 Kacey 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 Kacey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.3% · 8,708
- Black or African American9.2% · 1,072
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 904
- Two or more races4.4% · 518
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 388
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 125
Gender
Gender distribution for Kacey
Kacey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 14,868 total registrations, 3,119 (21.0%) were male and 11,749 (79.0%) were female.
Kacey as a male name
- Ranked #1,043 in 2024
- 211 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (220 births)
Kacey as a female name
- Ranked #1,093 in 2024
- 225 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (402 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kacey leans strongly female. 9,826 people counted with this name were female (83.9%), compared with 1,885 male bearers (16.1%).
Popularity
Kacey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kacey from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 3,798 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kacey remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kacey 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 Kacey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaceys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kacey, while Nevada, Montana, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 252 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kacey
Kacey is a gender-neutral given name with its origins rooted in the English language. It is believed to have emerged as a diminutive or variant of the name Casey, which itself is derived from the Irish surname Caiside, meaning "brave" or "watchful."
The name Kacey gained popularity in the United States during the late 20th century, although its exact origins and etymology remain somewhat ambiguous. Some sources suggest that it may have been influenced by the Old English word "cæce," meaning "watchful" or "vigilant."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kacey can be found in the 1974 novel "The Kacey Monster" by Michel Burnett, where it was used as the name of a fictional character. However, there are no significant historical references or mentions of the name in ancient texts or religious scriptures.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kacey. One of the earliest was Kacey Cotten (1923-2013), an American baseball player who played in the Negro leagues during the 1940s and 1950s. Another prominent figure was Kacey Jones (1935-2008), an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous television shows and films throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
In the world of music, Kacey Musgraves (born 1988) is a renowned American country singer-songwriter who has won several Grammy Awards and has been praised for her unique sound and lyrical storytelling. Kacey Underwood (born 1984) is another American singer and songwriter known for her contribution to the Christian music genre.
Kacey Bellamy (born 1987) is a professional ice hockey player from the United States who has won multiple Olympic medals as part of the national women's ice hockey team, including gold medals in 2018 and 2022.
While the name Kacey has gained popularity in recent decades, it has a relatively short recorded history compared to many other given names. However, its unique spelling and gender-neutral nature have contributed to its increasing use and appeal across various cultures and communities.
People
Kacey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kacey 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
Kacey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kacey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,375 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kacey 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 23,844 US residents.
Is Kacey a common name?
We classify Kacey as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,868 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kacey most popular?
The single biggest year for Kacey was 1991, when 463 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kacey is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kacey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,715 people with the name Kacey, or 3.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,234 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 Kacey 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 Kacey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kacey leans strongly female. 9,826 people counted with this name were female (83.9%), compared with 1,885 male bearers (16.1%). 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 Kacey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kacey is White at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Hispanic (7.7%). 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 Kacey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kacey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (8,708 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 Kacey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kacey a female name?
Yes, 79.0% of people registered as Kacey in the SSA data are female. 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 Kacey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kacey 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 Kacey 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 Kacey?
You can see how many Americans are named Kacey on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.