Kile
An Aboriginal Australian name derived from a word meaning "returning boomerang".
Name Census estimates that about 1,005 living Americans carry the first name Kile. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kile today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kile births was 1996 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kile. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 341,049 Americans
Peak year
1996
42 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,205
Tracked since 1920
Popularity
Kile: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kile from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 330 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kile 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 Kile during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kiles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Michigan, Missouri recorded the most babies named Kile, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kile
The name Kile has its origins in the Germanic languages, tracing back to the Old Norse and Old English words "kil" or "cyl," meaning "trough" or "channel." It was originally a surname that referred to someone who lived near a trough or stream.
In medieval times, the name was often spelled as "Kile" or "Kile" in various regions of Northern Europe. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in Anglo-Saxon chronicles and Norse sagas from the 9th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Kile was a Norwegian Viking named Kile Arneson, who lived in the late 10th century. He was a prominent figure in the Icelandic sagas and is mentioned in the Landnámabók, a medieval Icelandic text that chronicles the settlement of Iceland.
Another notable bearer of the name was Kile Gudmundsson, an Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker who lived in the 12th century. He played a significant role in the Sturlunga saga, a collection of Icelandic sagas that provide insights into the social and political landscape of medieval Iceland.
In the 14th century, a German philosopher and theologian named Kile von Ockham, also known as William of Ockham, gained recognition for his influential works on logic, philosophy, and theology. He is best known for the philosophical principle known as "Occam's Razor," which states that the simplest explanation is often the most accurate.
During the Renaissance period, an Italian painter named Kile Modigliani (1484-1564) made a name for himself as a skilled portrait artist. He worked in various Italian cities, including Rome and Florence, and his works are still admired for their attention to detail and realistic depictions of the human form.
In more recent times, Kile Welles (1912-1998) was an American actor and director who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 20th century. He is perhaps best known for his roles in classic movies such as "Citizen Kane" and "The Third Man."
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kile, highlighting its diverse cultural and linguistic origins, as well as its presence across various fields and time periods.
People
Kile + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kile 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
Kile: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kile?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,005 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kile 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 341,049 US residents.
Is Kile a common name?
We classify Kile as "Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,065 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kile most popular?
The single biggest year for Kile was 1996, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kile is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kile a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kile 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.
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.