Knoxville
City name of Tennessee meaning "town of brilliant light".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Knoxville. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Knoxville today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Knoxville births was 2014 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Knoxville. 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 Knoxville. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2014
5 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,299
Tracked since 2014
Popularity
Knoxville: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Knoxville from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 5 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
Knoxville 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 Knoxville 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 Knoxville
The name Knoxville has its origins in the United States, specifically in the state of Tennessee. It is a relatively modern name, derived from the city of Knoxville, which was founded in 1786 and named after Henry Knox, a Revolutionary War general and the first United States Secretary of War.
The city's name was formed by combining Knox's surname with the French word "ville," meaning "town" or "city." This reflects the influence of French settlers in the region during the colonial era. The name Knoxville has no direct roots in ancient languages or cultures, as it is a relatively recent creation.
There are no known historical references to the name Knoxville prior to the founding of the city. However, the name's association with Henry Knox connects it to the American Revolutionary War and the early years of the United States.
The earliest recorded examples of Knoxville as a given name likely date back to the late 18th or early 19th century, shortly after the city's establishment. It is possible that some children born in or around Knoxville at that time were given the name as a tribute to the city's namesake.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Knoxville, although it has never been a particularly common given name. One example is Knoxville Ellison (1928-2009), an American artist and sculptor known for his abstract works. Another is Knoxville Lee, a musician and songwriter from Tennessee who was active in the early 20th century.
Other individuals with the first name Knoxville include Knoxville Henson (1864-1945), a politician and lawyer from Arkansas, and Knoxville Johnson (1901-1977), a baseball player who played for the Negro league team, the Kansas City Monarchs.
It is worth noting that while Knoxville has been used as a given name, it is primarily associated with the city in Tennessee and its history, rather than being a widely adopted personal name across different cultures or time periods.
People
Knoxville + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Knoxville 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
Knoxville: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Knoxville?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Knoxville 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Knoxville a common name?
We classify Knoxville as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Knoxville most popular?
The single biggest year for Knoxville was 2014, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Knoxville is about 7 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 Knoxville in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Knoxville a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Knoxville 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 Knoxville still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Knoxville 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 Knoxville 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 the name Knoxville?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.