Kellen
A masculine given name of Irish origin meaning "slender" or "small".
Name Census estimates that about 17,747 living Americans carry the first name Kellen. It is a predominantly male name (93.0% of registrations). The average person named Kellen today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kellen births was 2012 (954 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kellen. 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 Kellen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 19,313 Americans
Peak year
2012
954 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,030
Tracked since 1954
Census
Kellen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,969 people with the first name Kellen, which placed it at #1,827 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
#1,827
National first-name rank
People counted
16K
15,969 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kellen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kellen is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Kellen 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 Kellen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 12,127
- Black or African American7.9% · 1,254
- Two or more races7.2% · 1,152
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 963
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 336
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 137
Gender
Gender distribution for Kellen
Kellen leans heavily male at 93.0% of total registrations, but 1,260 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kellen as a male name
- Ranked #1,030 in 2024
- 216 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (932 births)
Kellen as a female name
- Ranked #9,951 in 2023
- 10 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1988 (57 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kellen leans strongly male. 14,614 people counted with this name were male (91.5%), compared with 1,353 female bearers (8.5%).
Popularity
Kellen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kellen from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6,341 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kellen 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 Kellen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kellens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Washington, Texas recorded the most babies named Kellen, while West Virginia, Alaska, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 313 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kellen
The given name Kellen is thought to have originated from the Gaelic language, specifically from the Irish word "cailín" which means "young girl" or "maiden." This name gained popularity during the medieval period in Ireland and Scotland.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Caillen" or "Callen," and it was often used as a diminutive form of the name Caitlín (Cathleen or Kathleen). The name eventually evolved into the modern spelling of "Kellen."
While there are no known historical references to the name Kellen in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it was likely used as a common given name among the Celtic populations of Ireland and Scotland during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kellen can be found in the Irish Annals, which mention a "Callen Ó Ruairc" in the 13th century. Ó Ruairc was a prominent Irish surname at the time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kellen:
1. Kellen Winslow Sr. (born 1957), an American former professional football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) as a tight end for the San Diego Chargers.
2. Kellen Winslow Jr. (born 1983), an American former professional football player who played in the NFL as a tight end, following in his father's footsteps.
3. Kellen Moore (born 1989), an American football coach and former professional quarterback who currently serves as the head coach of the Chargers.
4. Kellen Clemens (born 1983), an American former professional football player who played in the NFL as a quarterback.
5. Kellen Wilson (born 1996), an American singer-songwriter and musician known for her work in the country music genre.
These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and professions of individuals who have carried the name Kellen throughout history, from athletes and coaches to musicians and entertainers.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kellen
People
Kellen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kellen 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
Kellen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kellen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,747 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kellen 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 19,313 US residents.
Is Kellen a common name?
We classify Kellen as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,097 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kellen most popular?
The single biggest year for Kellen was 2012, when 954 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kellen is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kellen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,969 people with the name Kellen, or 5.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,827 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 Kellen 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 Kellen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kellen leans strongly male. 14,614 people counted with this name were male (91.5%), compared with 1,353 female bearers (8.5%). 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 Kellen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kellen is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Kellen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kellen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (12,127 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 Kellen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kellen a male name?
Yes, 93.0% of people registered as Kellen in the SSA data are male. 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 Kellen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kellen 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 Kellen 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 have the name Kellen?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Kellen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.