Kielin
A unisex name of Irish origin meaning "slender" or "slight".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Kielin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kielin today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kielin births was 2009 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kielin. 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 Kielin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2009
5 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2009 SSA rank
#13,572
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Kielin: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kielin 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 Kielin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kielin
The name Kielin is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Norsemen or Vikings who inhabited Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe during the Viking Age, from around the 8th to the 11th century AD. It is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word "kili," which means "wedge" or "ridge," and the diminutive suffix "-in," suggesting a small or diminutive form.
While the exact origins of the name Kielin are uncertain, it is possible that it was initially used to describe someone who lived near a ridge or wedge-shaped landform. Alternatively, it could have been a nickname or descriptive name given to someone with a physical characteristic resembling a wedge or ridge, such as a prominent nose or facial feature.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kielin are found in ancient Norse sagas and historical records from the Viking era. One notable historical figure who bore this name was Kielin Thorvaldsson, a Viking chieftain and explorer who is said to have led one of the first Norse expeditions to Greenland in the late 10th century.
In the early medieval period, the name Kielin was primarily used in Scandinavia and the regions influenced by Norse culture, such as parts of modern-day Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. However, as the Vikings expanded their reach through trade and exploration, the name likely spread to other parts of Europe and beyond.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Kielin. One such figure was Kielin Erlendsson (c. 1190-1262), an Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker who played a crucial role in the Icelandic Commonwealth period. Another was Kielin Magnusson (c. 1320-1390), a Norwegian nobleman and military commander who served as the Governor of Greenland during the 14th century.
In more recent times, Kielin has been less common as a given name, though it has occasionally been used in parts of Scandinavia and among those with Norse or Viking heritage. Some notable bearers of the name in the modern era include Kielin Gilbertsson (1920-2005), a Swedish painter and artist known for his landscape and seascape works, and Kielin Halvorsen (1936-2018), a Norwegian politician and member of the Storting, Norway's national parliament.
People
Kielin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kielin 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
Kielin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kielin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kielin 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Kielin a common name?
We classify Kielin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kielin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kielin was 2009, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kielin is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Kielin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kielin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kielin 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 Kielin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kielin 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 Kielin 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Kielin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.