How rare is the name Kelley?

45,163 people in the United States have the first name Kelley, about 1 in 6,688. It ranks #966 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

KELLEY

#966

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
45,163
About
1 in 6,688
This common or more
69.5%
Who bears it

Of the 45,163 people named Kelley, 87.3% reported their origin as White, 5.1% as Black and 3% as two or more races. 91.1% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Kelley peaked in 1968, when 2,086 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18822025
Peak year
1968
Births that year
2,086
In 2025*
24 ▼99%
Recorded as
mostly female

At least 52,385 babies have been given the name since 1882. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Kelley by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #372. The largest share of babies named Kelley, 45.5%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1880s#2,05629
1890s#2,54632
1900s#2,15681
1910s#2,317250
1920s#2,587314
1930s#2,814233
1940s#2,199440
1950s#9223,128
1960s#38416,117
1970s#37213,804
1980s#47210,583
1990s#8995,352
2000s#2,7221,332
2010s#5,673498
2020s#7,572192
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–271.1%
Silent Generation 1928–451%
Baby boom 1946–6420.2%
Generation X 1965–8045.5%
Millennials 1981–9626.4%
Generation Z 1997–124.6%
2013 and later1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Kelley is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kelley has been most common in New Hampshire (2.6×), Maine (2.2×), and Vermont (2.2×), and least common in South Dakota (0.2×).

45,749 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Kelley

#964 Elisabeth · 45,239#965 Geoffrey · 45,230#967 Weston · 45,042#968 Ryder · 44,966

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kelley, most common first.

#85 Kelly · 499,222#3,567 Keeley · 5,771#5,039 Kellee · 3,500#6,791 Kelle · 2,320#22,704 Keiley · 436#23,426 Kealey · 418#41,689 Keley · 175#50,999 Kellea · 116

Also a last name

As a last name, Kelley ranks #203 of 156,621, with 137,250 people. See Kelley as a last name

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