Kerly
An invented name, perhaps a combination of the names Keri and Karly.
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the first name Kerly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kerly today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kerly births was 2024 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kerly. 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
132
~ 1 in 2,596,624 Americans
Peak year
2024
17 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,777
Tracked since 1997
Census
Kerly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 414 people with the first name Kerly, which placed it at #23,579 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
#23,579
National first-name rank
People counted
414
414 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
80.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kerly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kerly is Hispanic at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and White (3.9%). 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 Kerly 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 Kerly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino80.0% · 331
- Black or African American14.3% · 59
- White3.9% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 8
Popularity
Kerly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kerly from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 61 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kerly 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 Kerly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kerlys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kerly
The given name Kerly is believed to have originated from the Old English language, dating back to the early medieval period around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is thought to be a variation or diminutive form of the name Cerl, which itself is derived from the Old English word "ceorl," meaning a freeman or a peasant. The name Kerly may have been used initially as a nickname or an affectionate form of address for someone named Cerl.
In terms of historical references, the name Kerly is not widely documented in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name throughout history. One of the earliest recorded examples is Kerly of Malmesbury, an English monk and chronicler who lived in the 12th century and authored several works, including the "Gesta Regum Anglorum" (Deeds of the English Kings).
Another notable figure was Kerly Napton, an English poet and playwright who lived in the 16th century. He is best known for his contributions to the Renaissance literary scene in England, particularly his works in the courtly love tradition. Kerly Napton's exact dates of birth and death are uncertain, but he is estimated to have been active during the latter half of the 16th century.
In the 17th century, there was Kerly Winstanley, an English writer and philosopher who was part of the Diggers movement, a radical Protestant group advocating for agrarian communism. Winstanley's works, such as "The Law of Freedom in a Platform" (1652), explored themes of social justice and economic equality. He was born around 1609 and died in the 1670s.
Moving into the 18th century, Kerly Beaumont was a notable English artist known for his portraits and landscapes. He was born in 1718 and died in 1786. Beaumont's works were highly regarded during his lifetime, and some of his paintings can still be found in prestigious art collections today.
Lastly, Kerly Whitmore was an American inventor and entrepreneur who lived in the 19th century. He is credited with developing several innovative agricultural tools and machinery, including a groundbreaking design for a mechanical cotton picker. Whitmore was born in 1824 and died in 1898, leaving a lasting impact on the advancement of agricultural technology.
While the name Kerly may have fallen out of widespread use in more recent times, these historical figures demonstrate its presence and significance throughout various periods and fields, from literature and philosophy to art and invention.
People
Kerly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kerly 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
Kerly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kerly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kerly 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 2,596,624 US residents.
Is Kerly a common name?
We classify Kerly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kerly most popular?
The single biggest year for Kerly was 2024, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kerly is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kerly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 414 people with the name Kerly, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,579 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 Kerly 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 Kerly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kerly leans strongly female. 363 people counted with this name were female (87.3%), compared with 53 male bearers (12.7%). 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 Kerly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kerly is Hispanic at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and White (3.9%). 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 Kerly most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Kerly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.0% (331 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 Kerly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kerly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kerly 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 Kerly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kerly 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 Kerly 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 Kerly?
You can see how many Americans are named Kerly on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.