Kinglsey
A masculine name of Old English origin meaning "king's meadow" or "king's wood".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Kinglsey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kinglsey today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kinglsey births was 2018 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kinglsey. 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 Kinglsey. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2018
5 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2018 SSA rank
#13,260
Tracked since 2018
Popularity
Kinglsey: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kinglsey 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 Kinglsey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kinglsey
The name Kingsley is derived from the Old English words "cyning" meaning "king" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." It is believed to have originated as a surname in medieval England, referring to someone who lived near a meadow owned by the king or near a royal estate.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Kingsley dates back to the late 12th century, when it was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1190 as a surname. It was likely used as a given name shortly after, though the first documented instance of it being used as a first name is not known with certainty.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Kingsley was Sir John Kingsley, an English landowner and Member of Parliament who lived from around 1305 to 1370. He served as a knight of the shire for Staffordshire in the English Parliament during the reign of Edward III.
In the 16th century, the name gained some prominence with the English writer and courtier Sir Henry Kingsley, who lived from around 1531 to 1597. He was a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I and authored several works, including a treatise on household management.
The 19th century saw the rise of the famous English writer and novelist Charles Kingsley, who was born in 1819 and died in 1875. He was a prominent figure in the Christian Socialist movement and is best known for his novels "Westward Ho!" and "The Water-Babies."
Another notable figure was the American author and philosopher Sydney Kingsley, who lived from 1883 to 1970. He is best known for his plays "Men in White" and "Dead End," which were both adapted into successful films.
In the 20th century, the name Kingsley was borne by the English actor and producer Ben Kingsley, born in 1943. He is renowned for his Academy Award-winning performance in the 1982 film "Gandhi" and has had a long and successful career in both film and television.
People
Kinglsey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kinglsey 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
Kinglsey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kinglsey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kinglsey 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 Kinglsey a common name?
We classify Kinglsey 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 Kinglsey most popular?
The single biggest year for Kinglsey was 2018, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kinglsey is about 8 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 Kinglsey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kinglsey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kinglsey 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 Kinglsey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kinglsey 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 Kinglsey 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 Kinglsey as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.