Kinnley
A feminine name of modern American origin, perhaps meaning "meadow near the royal palace."
Name Census estimates that about 356 living Americans carry the first name Kinnley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kinnley today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kinnley births was 2012 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kinnley. 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
356
~ 1 in 962,793 Americans
Peak year
2012
35 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,173
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Kinnley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kinnley from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 261 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kinnley 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 Kinnley 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 Kinnley
The name Kinnley is a relatively modern invention, with no clear origins in a specific language or culture. It appears to be a creative combination of existing names or words, rather than having a direct historical lineage.
Kinnley may be a variant or combination of the Scottish surname Kinney and the English name Linley. The surname Kinney is derived from the Gaelic personal name Cionaodh, meaning "ancient" or "ancient fire." Linley, on the other hand, is an English habitational name from a place in Shropshire, England, derived from the Old English words "lin," meaning "flax," and "leah," meaning "woodland clearing."
While there are no direct historical references to the name Kinnley itself, its potential components have their own histories. The surname Kinney has been recorded in Scotland since the 16th century, with bearers such as John Kinney, who was recorded in Glasgow in 1597. The name Linley has been documented in English records since the 13th century, with examples like Roger de Lyneley, mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1292.
As for notable individuals bearing the name Kinnley, there are relatively few historical figures due to its modern nature. However, here are five examples:
1. Kinnley Jackson (born 1985), an American basketball player who played professionally in Europe.
2. Kinnley Martin (born 1991), an American former college basketball player for the Purdue Boilermakers.
3. Kinnley Taft (1906-1992), an American politician who served as a member of the Utah State Senate from 1957 to 1967.
4. Kinnley Wilcox (born 1972), an American actress known for her roles in independent films and television shows.
5. Kinnley Ziegler (1903-1985), an American artist and sculptor known for her abstract works and public installations.
It's worth noting that due to the name's relatively recent popularity, many of the individuals bearing it are contemporary or from the late 20th century. As a modern name, Kinnley lacks the rich historical tapestry of more traditional names, but it represents the creative process of name construction in the modern era.
People
Kinnley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kinnley 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
Kinnley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kinnley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 356 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kinnley 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 962,793 US residents.
Is Kinnley a common name?
We classify Kinnley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 359 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kinnley most popular?
The single biggest year for Kinnley was 2012, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kinnley is about 12 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 Kinnley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kinnley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kinnley 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.
Is Kinnley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kinnley 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 Kinnley 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 are named Kinnley?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.