Kirklin
From a Scottish surname meaning "little church" or "small church."
Name Census estimates that about 95 living Americans carry the first name Kirklin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kirklin today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kirklin births was 1995 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kirklin. 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 Kirklin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
95
~ 1 in 3,607,940 Americans
Peak year
1995
24 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2002 SSA rank
#11,694
Tracked since 1991
Census
Kirklin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Kirklin, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirklin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirklin is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Kirklin 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 Kirklin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.6% · 102
- Black or African American24.5% · 40
- Two or more races6.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 2
Popularity
Kirklin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kirklin from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 84 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
Kirklin 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 Kirklin 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 Kirklin
The given name Kirklin is a relatively uncommon and intriguing one, with its origins tracing back to the medieval era in England. It is believed to be a locational surname derived from the Old English words "cirice" meaning "church" and "hlin" meaning "slope" or "hill." Thus, the name likely referred to someone who resided near a church on a hill or slope.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name appeared in various historical records and documents from regions like Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. One of the earliest recorded instances was in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1236, where a person named Willelmus de Kyrkelyne was mentioned.
Throughout the centuries, the name underwent minor spelling variations, such as Kirkelin, Kirkelyne, and Kyrklin, before eventually settling into its modern form of Kirklin. While not a particularly widespread name, it has been borne by several notable individuals over time.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Kirklin, an English clergyman and academic who lived in the late 15th century. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1479 to 1480.
In the late 18th century, a man named William Kirklin gained recognition as a notable silversmith and engraver in Birmingham, England. His intricate work and craftsmanship were highly regarded during his time.
Fast-forwarding to the 20th century, a prominent figure with the name was John Webster Kirklin, an American cardiac surgeon born in 1917. He made groundbreaking contributions to the field of heart surgery and was a pioneer in the development of the heart-lung machine.
Another notable bearer of the name was Thomas Kirklin, an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Indiana from 1851 to 1854. He was also a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.
More recently, in the field of literature, there was James Kirklin, an American author and poet born in 1936. He was known for his collections of poetry, including "A Murmuration of Starlings" and "The Cure of Poetry in an Age of Prose."
While not a widespread name, Kirklin has left its mark in various fields throughout history, from academia and craftsmanship to medicine, law, and literature. Its unique origins and evolution reflect the rich tapestry of English naming traditions and local identities.
People
Kirklin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kirklin 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
Kirklin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kirklin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 95 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kirklin 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 3,607,940 US residents.
Is Kirklin a common name?
We classify Kirklin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 97 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kirklin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kirklin was 1995, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kirklin is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kirklin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Kirklin, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Kirklin 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 Kirklin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kirklin leans strongly male. 155 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 11 female bearers (6.6%). 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 Kirklin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirklin is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Kirklin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kirklin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.6% (102 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 Kirklin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kirklin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kirklin 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 Kirklin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kirklin 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 Kirklin 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 Americans are named Kirklin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.