Knightley
A masculine name derived from the English word "knight".
Name Census estimates that about 134 living Americans carry the first name Knightley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Knightley today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Knightley births was 2021 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Knightley. 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
134
~ 1 in 2,557,868 Americans
Peak year
2021
19 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,421
Tracked since 2009
Gender
Gender distribution for Knightley
Knightley is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 135 total registrations, 33 (24.4%) were male and 102 (75.6%) were female.
Knightley as a male name
- Ranked #10,421 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (7 births)
Knightley as a female name
- Ranked #12,793 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (13 births)
Popularity
Knightley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Knightley from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 65 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Knightley 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 Knightley 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 Knightley
The name Knightley is an English surname that has its origins in the Old English words "cniht" and "leah". "Cniht" means "knight" or "servant", while "leah" refers to a meadow or clearing in a forest. Knightley, therefore, can be interpreted as "the knight's meadow" or "the meadow of the servant".
The earliest recorded use of the name Knightley dates back to the 11th century, shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. At this time, many Norman nobles were granted lands and titles by William the Conqueror, and it's believed that the name Knightley may have been adopted by a family that held land in a meadow or clearing.
Throughout history, the name Knightley has been associated with various notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Sir Richard Knightley (c. 1150-1215), a Norman knight who fought in the Third Crusade under Richard the Lionheart. Another notable figure was Sir Valentine Knightley (1508-1566), a member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, several members of the Knightley family played significant roles. Sir Richard Knightley (1592-1639) was a Parliamentarian who fought against King Charles I, while his cousin, Sir Ferdinand Knightley (1618-1677), was a Royalist who supported the king.
In the literary world, one of the most famous bearers of the name was Jane Austen's fictional character, Emma Woodhouse's neighbor and eventual love interest, Mr. Knightley, from the novel "Emma" published in 1815.
Other notable individuals with the first name Knightley include Knightley Chetwode (1884-1958), an English cricketer who played for Hampshire County Cricket Club, and Knightley Whitelock (1915-1998), a British Army officer who served in World War II and later became a successful businessman.
People
Knightley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Knightley 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
Knightley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Knightley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 134 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Knightley 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 2,557,868 US residents.
Is Knightley a common name?
We classify Knightley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 135 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Knightley most popular?
The single biggest year for Knightley was 2021, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Knightley 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 Knightley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Knightley a female name?
Yes, 75.6% of people registered as Knightley 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 Knightley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Knightley 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 Knightley 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 Americans are named Knightley?
See how many Americans are named Knightley on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.