Kely
A feminine name of Madagascar origin meaning "pretty".
Name Census estimates that about 242 living Americans carry the first name Kely. It is a predominantly female name (96.0% of registrations). The average person named Kely today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kely births was 1987 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kely. 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
242
~ 1 in 1,416,340 Americans
Peak year
1987
12 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
1987 SSA rank
#7,585
Tracked since 1967
Census
Kely in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 788 people with the first name Kely, which placed it at #14,825 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
#14,825
National first-name rank
People counted
788
788 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
54.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kely
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kely is Hispanic at 54.1%. The next largest groups are White (34.9%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Kely 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 Kely at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino54.1% · 426
- White34.9% · 275
- Black or African American6.7% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 17
- Two or more races1.6% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Kely
Kely leans heavily female at 96.0% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kely as a male name
- Ranked #7,585 in 1987
- 5 male births in 1987
- Peak: 1972 (5 births)
Kely as a female name
- Ranked #16,784 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2008 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kely leans strongly female. 684 people counted with this name were female (86.6%), compared with 106 male bearers (13.4%).
Popularity
Kely: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kely from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 86 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kely remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kely 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 Kely during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kelys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kely
The name Kely is believed to have originated from the Malagasy language spoken in Madagascar. It is a variation of the name Kely, which means "small" or "little" in Malagasy. The name likely emerged in the 17th or 18th century when European explorers and traders began interacting with the people of Madagascar.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kely is found in the writings of French explorer Étienne de Flacourt, who published a dictionary of the Malagasy language in 1658. He listed the word "kely" as meaning "petit" (small) in French.
In the 19th century, the name Kely gained popularity among the Merina people, who were the dominant ethnic group in the central highlands of Madagascar. It was often given to children, particularly girls, as a way to express affection and the hope that they would grow up to be humble and modest.
One notable historical figure named Kely was Kely Ranaivondramasina, a Malagasy princess who lived in the late 18th century. She was the daughter of King Andrianampoinimerina, the founder of the Merina Kingdom.
Another famous bearer of the name was Kely Rajoelisolo, a Malagasy writer and poet who lived from 1914 to 1992. He was known for his works exploring the themes of love, nature, and the Malagasy identity.
In the 20th century, the name Kely spread beyond Madagascar and was adopted by some families in other parts of the world, particularly in France and other Francophone countries due to their historical ties with Madagascar.
One notable example is Kely Alves, a Brazilian actress and model born in 1984. She has appeared in several television shows and films in Brazil and Portugal.
Another person named Kely is Kely Camara, a Guinean-French professional footballer born in 1990. He currently plays as a defender for French club Troyes AC.
While the name Kely is relatively uncommon outside of Madagascar and the Malagasy diaspora, it remains a charming and meaningful name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Kely + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kely 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
Kely: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kely?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 242 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kely 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 1,416,340 US residents.
Is Kely a common name?
We classify Kely as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 252 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kely most popular?
The single biggest year for Kely was 1987, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kely is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kely in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 788 people with the name Kely, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,825 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 Kely 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 Kely?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kely leans strongly female. 684 people counted with this name were female (86.6%), compared with 106 male bearers (13.4%). 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 Kely?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kely is Hispanic at 54.1%. The next largest groups are White (34.9%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Kely most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Kely in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.1% (426 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 Kely in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kely a female name?
Yes, 96.0% of people registered as Kely 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 Kely still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kely 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 Kely 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 Kely as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Kely on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.