Kess
An English name likely derived from the Irish surname Kasey, meaning "watchful" or "vigilant".
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Kess. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kess today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kess births was 1997 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kess. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kess. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
1997
14 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2002 SSA rank
#16,829
Tracked since 1995
Popularity
Kess: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kess from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 44 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kess remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kess 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 Kess during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kess
The given name Kess has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic word "kessil," which means "curly-haired." This name likely emerged during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 8th centuries CE, and was primarily used in regions that were inhabited by Germanic tribes, such as present-day Germany, the Netherlands, and parts of Scandinavia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kess can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the 9th century, where it is spelled as "Kessil." This suggests that the name was in use among the Germanic populations of central and western Europe during the Early Middle Ages.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kess. One such figure was Kess the Elder (c. 980-1050), a renowned scholar and theologian from the Holy Roman Empire, who was renowned for his contributions to the study of medieval canon law. Another notable bearer of the name was Kess of Saxony (c. 1120-1190), a prominent military leader and statesman who played a pivotal role in the conflicts between the Guelphs and Ghibellines during the 12th century.
In the 13th century, Kess the Chronicler (c. 1210-1280) was a celebrated writer and historian from the Duchy of Bavaria, known for his detailed accounts of the events and personalities of his time. The name also appears in religious texts, with Kess of Cologne (c. 1340-1410) being a influential Dominican friar and preacher who was instrumental in promoting the principles of the Catholic Reformation in the Rhineland region.
During the Renaissance period, Kess von Kalkar (c. 1450-1510) was a renowned painter and engraver from the Low Countries, whose works were highly influential in the development of the Northern Renaissance art style. His contemporaries included the famous artist Albrecht Dürer, who was known to have admired Kess's work.
While the name Kess has its roots in the Germanic languages, it has also been adopted and adapted in various cultures and regions over the centuries, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its historical significance remains deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of the Germanic peoples and their contributions to the shaping of European history and civilization.
People
Kess + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kess 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
Kess: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kess?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kess 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 5,618,924 US residents.
Is Kess a common name?
We classify Kess as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kess most popular?
The single biggest year for Kess was 1997, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kess is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kess a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kess 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.