How rare is the name Kirk?

55,261 people in the United States have the first name Kirk, about 1 in 5,466. It ranks #840 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

KIRK

#840

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
55,261
About
1 in 5,466
This common or more
67.5%
Who bears it

Of the 55,261 people named Kirk, 81.8% reported their origin as White, 10.6% as Black and 2.7% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Kirk peaked in 1962, when 2,560 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1962
Births that year
2,560
In 2025*
52 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 68,264 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.

Kirk by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1960s, when it ranked #317. The largest share of babies named Kirk, 44.2%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1,86940
1890s#2,20748
1900s#2,34568
1910s#2,162284
1920s#2,290387
1930s#1,669584
1940s#8312,755
1950s#37616,252
1960s#31722,275
1970s#43011,687
1980s#6417,231
1990s#1,1073,966
2000s#2,6051,418
2010s#3,746924
2020s#5,099345
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–271%
Silent Generation 1928–452.6%
Baby boom 1946–6444.2%
Generation X 1965–8033%
Millennials 1981–9614.1%
Generation Z 1997–123.6%
2013 and later1.4%

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 Kirk is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kirk has been most common in Iowa (2.5×), Utah (2.5×), and Idaho (2.2×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.27×).

63,539 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 Kirk

#838 Cassidy · 55,593#839 Angelo · 55,360#841 Nichole · 55,220#842 Kari · 55,005

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kirk, most common first.

#46,679 Kirke · 142

Also a last name

As a last name, Kirk ranks #649 of 156,621, with 51,067 people. See Kirk as a last name

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