Kiel
An English place name of Germanic origin meaning "boatkeeper".
Name Census estimates that about 2,433 living Americans carry the first name Kiel. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Kiel today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kiel births was 1983 (287 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kiel. 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 Kiel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 140,877 Americans
Peak year
1983
287 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,686
Tracked since 1961
Census
Kiel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,243 people with the first name Kiel, which placed it at #6,961 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
#6,961
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,243 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kiel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiel is White at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Kiel 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 Kiel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.1% · 1,729
- Black or African American9.4% · 211
- Two or more races5.5% · 123
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Kiel
Kiel leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 30 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kiel as a male name
- Ranked #11,686 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1983 (279 births)
Kiel as a female name
- Ranked #14,621 in 1993
- 5 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1983 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiel leans strongly male. 2,174 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 64 female bearers (2.9%).
Popularity
Kiel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kiel from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,529 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kiel 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 Kiel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Kiel, while Oklahoma, North Carolina, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kiel
The given name Kiel has its origins in the German language and culture. It is believed to have emerged around the 13th century, deriving from the Old Germanic root word "kihl," which means "wedge" or "keel" (referring to the underside of a ship's hull). This connection suggests that the name may have been initially associated with maritime or seafaring occupations.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Kil" or "Kyl," eventually evolving into the modern spelling "Kiel." Historically, the name was particularly prevalent in northern Germany, especially in regions around the Baltic Sea, such as the city of Kiel, which lent its name to the Kiel Canal, a prestigious waterway connecting the North Sea and the Baltic.
While the name does not appear to have direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been recorded in various historical documents and records throughout the centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Kiel von Rendsburg, a 14th-century German nobleman and landowner from the Duchy of Schleswig.
Another notable figure was Kiel Jensen (1546-1611), a Danish naval officer and explorer who led several expeditions to Greenland and is credited with mapping parts of the island's coastline. In the 18th century, Kiel Müller (1723-1789) was a German theologian and philosopher known for his contributions to the Enlightenment movement.
During the 19th century, Kiel Torgevallen (1815-1892) was a Norwegian politician and jurist who served as the Prime Minister of Norway from 1889 to 1891. Additionally, Kiel Michelsen (1879-1958) was a Danish sculptor and artist renowned for his monumental public works in Copenhagen and other cities.
In the 20th century, Kiel Reijnen (1923-2009) was a Dutch resistance fighter during World War II and later became a prominent politician and diplomat, serving as the Netherlands' Ambassador to the United Nations from 1979 to 1983.
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have borne the name Kiel throughout history, spanning various fields such as politics, exploration, religion, and the arts.
People
Kiel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kiel 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
Kiel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kiel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,433 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kiel 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 140,877 US residents.
Is Kiel a common name?
We classify Kiel as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,529 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kiel most popular?
The single biggest year for Kiel was 1983, when 287 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kiel is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kiel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,243 people with the name Kiel, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,961 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 Kiel 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 Kiel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kiel leans strongly male. 2,174 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 64 female bearers (2.9%). 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 Kiel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kiel is White at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Kiel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kiel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.1% (1,729 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 Kiel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kiel a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Kiel 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 Kiel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kiel 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 Kiel 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 Kiel?
Find out how many people share the name Kiel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.