first name
KELSEY
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 138,745 people named Kelsey, 84.3% reported their origin as White, 5% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.8% as Black. 97.2% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Kelsey peaked in 1992, when 11,882 babies got the name.
At least 155,738 babies have been given the name since 1891. 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.
Kelsey by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #79. The largest share of babies named Kelsey, 63.9%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.
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 Kelsey is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kelsey has been most common in Alaska (2.4×), Oregon (1.8×), and Wyoming (1.7×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.32×).
150,688 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 Kelsey
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kelsey, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Kelsey ranks #2,603 of 156,621, with 13,536 people. See Kelsey as a last name
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🔎 KELSEY 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 2,177 Americans Rarer than 54.6% of us Peaked in 1992 with 11,882 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/kelsey/