Kellsey
An English feminine name derived from the surname Kelsey, possibly meaning "cypress grove".
Name Census estimates that about 427 living Americans carry the first name Kellsey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kellsey today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kellsey births was 1993 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kellsey. 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 Kellsey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
427
~ 1 in 802,703 Americans
Peak year
1993
38 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2017 SSA rank
#17,174
Tracked since 1985
Census
Kellsey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 420 people with the first name Kellsey, which placed it at #23,335 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
#23,335
National first-name rank
People counted
420
420 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kellsey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kellsey is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.8%) and Black (7.6%). 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 Kellsey 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 Kellsey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.9% · 323
- Hispanic or Latino9.8% · 41
- Black or African American7.6% · 32
- Two or more races3.6% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Kellsey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kellsey from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 236 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kellsey 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 Kellsey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kellseys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kellsey
The name Kellsey is an English name that emerged during the Middle Ages, derived from the Old English word "celsig" or "kelsig," meaning "chalky" or "lime-rich." This suggests that the name may have initially been used as a descriptive term for someone who lived in an area with chalky soil or limestone.
It's believed that the name Kellsey was initially more common in the southern regions of England, particularly in areas with limestone or chalk hills and valleys. Over time, the spelling evolved from "Kelsig" to "Kelsey" and later variations like "Kellsey."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kellsey can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as a place name referring to a village called "Kelseia" in Hertfordshire, England. This village name likely derived from the same Old English root as the personal name.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Kellsey de Beaumont was recorded as a knight and landowner in Warwickshire. He is believed to be one of the earliest individuals to bear the name Kellsey as a personal name.
During the 13th century, a Cistercian monk named Kellsey of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire gained recognition for his scholarly works on theology and philosophy. He is often cited as an early example of an individual with the name Kellsey in religious circles.
In the 15th century, a famous English archer named Kellsey Bowman was renowned for his skill and bravery during the Hundred Years' War. He is said to have fought alongside King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Another historical figure with the name Kellsey was a 16th-century English explorer named Kellsey Hawkins, who accompanied Sir Francis Drake on his voyages to the West Indies and the Americas. Hawkins is credited with being one of the first Englishmen to establish trade routes with the Caribbean islands.
These examples showcase the rich history and evolution of the name Kellsey, from its Old English roots as a descriptive term to its adoption as a personal name by individuals from various walks of life throughout the centuries.
People
Kellsey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kellsey 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
Kellsey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kellsey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 427 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kellsey 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 802,703 US residents.
Is Kellsey a common name?
We classify Kellsey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 439 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kellsey most popular?
The single biggest year for Kellsey was 1993, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kellsey is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kellsey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 420 people with the name Kellsey, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,335 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 Kellsey 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 Kellsey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kellsey leans strongly female. 405 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 13 male bearers (3.1%). 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 Kellsey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kellsey is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.8%) and Black (7.6%). 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 Kellsey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kellsey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (323 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 Kellsey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kellsey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kellsey 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 Kellsey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kellsey 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 Kellsey 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 named Kellsey?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Kellsey at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.