Kailin
A feminine name of Chinese origin meaning "slender and beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 1,367 living Americans carry the first name Kailin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Kailin today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kailin births was 2000 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kailin. 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.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 250,735 Americans
Peak year
2000
66 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,756
Tracked since 1981
Gender
Gender distribution for Kailin
Kailin leans heavily female at 86.5% of total registrations, but 189 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kailin as a male name
- Ranked #10,350 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (10 births)
Kailin as a female name
- Ranked #6,756 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (57 births)
Popularity
Kailin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kailin from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 498 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kailin 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 Kailin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kailins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Kailin, while Texas, Indiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kailin
The name Kailin has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, derived from the elements "caol" meaning "slender" or "graceful", and "linn" meaning "pool" or "lake". It likely originated in the medieval period, around the 12th to 15th centuries, when Gaelic names were common in Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kailin can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In 1174, a woman named Kailin ingen Muiredaig is mentioned as the wife of a prominent Irish chieftain. This suggests the name was in use among the Gaelic-speaking populations of Scotland and Ireland during this time.
Throughout the centuries, the name Kailin has been relatively uncommon, but there are a few notable individuals who have borne it. In the 16th century, Kailin Ó Maolchonaire was an Irish scribe and historian who worked on the Annals of the Four Masters, a celebrated compilation of Irish history.
In the 18th century, Kailin Macpherson was a Scottish Jacobite who fought alongside Bonnie Prince Charlie in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. She was renowned for her bravery and loyalty to the cause. Another notable figure was Kailin MacDonald, a Scottish writer and poet born in 1787, whose works celebrated the beauty of the Scottish Highlands and the Gaelic culture.
Moving into the 19th century, Kailin MacLeod was a prominent Scottish politician and advocate for land reform, born in 1845. He played a significant role in the struggle for crofters' rights and the preservation of Highland culture.
While the name Kailin has remained relatively rare throughout history, it has persisted as a unique and evocative name with deep roots in Scottish Gaelic culture and tradition.
People
Kailin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kailin 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
Kailin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kailin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,367 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kailin 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 250,735 US residents.
Is Kailin a common name?
We classify Kailin as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,395 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kailin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kailin was 2000, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kailin is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kailin a female name?
Yes, 86.5% of people registered as Kailin 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.
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.