Head to head · Boys' names
Kevin vs Knox
#221 vs #196 in 2025
Knox is a whisker ahead (#196 vs #221 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Knox is climbing the charts fast, Kevin is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Knox leads 4 measures of 6; Kevin leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Kevin —, Knox #734 — Knox higher
- 1890s: Kevin —, Knox #1101 — Knox higher
- 1900s: Kevin —, Knox #1148 — Knox higher
- 1910s: Kevin #1829, Knox #1998 — Kevin higher
- 1920s: Kevin #917, Knox #1952 — Kevin higher
- 1930s: Kevin #471, Knox #2549 — Kevin higher
- 1940s: Kevin #209, Knox #2365 — Kevin higher
- 1950s: Kevin #34, Knox #2633 — Kevin higher
- 1960s: Kevin #15, Knox #3425 — Kevin higher
- 1970s: Kevin #15, Knox #4195 — Kevin higher
- 1980s: Kevin #22, Knox #6244 — Kevin higher
- 1990s: Kevin #27, Knox #5250 — Kevin higher
- 2000s: Kevin #36, Knox #2536 — Kevin higher
- 2010s: Kevin #88, Knox #309 — Kevin higher
- 2020s: Kevin #188, Knox #212 — Kevin higher
Kevin stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Kevin has held the lead since the 1910s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Kevin | Knox |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #734 |
| 1890s | — | #1101 |
| 1900s | — | #1148 |
| 1910s | #1829 | #1998 |
| 1920s | #917 | #1952 |
| 1930s | #471 | #2549 |
| 1940s | #209 | #2365 |
| 1950s | #34 | #2633 |
| 1960s | #15 | #3425 |
| 1970s | #15 | #4195 |
| 1980s | #22 | #6244 |
| 1990s | #27 | #5250 |
| 2000s | #36 | #2536 |
| 2010s | #88 | #309 |
| 2020s | #188 | #212 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Kevin
gentle; kindly
Irish caomh means gentle, kind or beloved, and Caoimhin adds the diminutive -in, giving something like the gentle one. The derivation is well attested. It is worth noticing what the name does not say: most early medieval men's names across Europe are about battle, spears, rule or wolves, and a name meaning gentle stands out sharply against that background.
Caoimhín → Kevin
How it traveled
Kevin of Glendalough founded a monastery in a valley in Wicklow in the sixth century and is one of Ireland's principal saints; the stories about him involve a great deal of standing still in cold water and a blackbird nesting in his outstretched hand. The name stayed inside Ireland for a very long time and crossed to America with Irish emigration, becoming widely used in the middle of the last century — the first Gaelic name to do so on that scale, and the reason the rest followed.
Knox
Round hill, hillock
From Old English cnocc, 'hillock', by way of Scottish place names such as Knock in Renfrewshire.
cnocc (Old English, 'hillock') → Knock (Scottish place name) → de Knoc → Knox (surname) → Knox (given name)
How it traveled
Knox is a Scottish surname taken from places named for a small round hill — Old English cnocc, borrowed into Scots. Families living at such a hill became de Knoc and then Knox, and the name spread through the Lowlands, into Ulster, and from there to the American colonies.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Kevin
KEV-in
KEV-in, two syllables, stress at the front. Irish Caoimhin is closer to KWEE-veen or KEE-veen depending on the dialect, with the mh sounded as a v — so the English name is a considerable simplification of the original rather than a spelling of it.
- Kev — The front clipped, and the short form nearly every Kevin is given; a complete working name.
- Kevo — The name with an Australian-style ending, which travels further than its origin suggests.
- Vin — The back taken alone, and a standing short form of its own from an unrelated name.
Knox
NOKS
The K is silent, as in knot and knee. One syllable everywhere in English; no competing pronunciations.
- Knoxie — Informal, mostly used with small children by family; rarely survives into school years.
- K — An initial used casually among friends and teammates rather than a true short form.
Who has carried each name
Kevin
Kevin Hart (b. 1979) — One of comedy's biggest box-office stars
Kevin Costner (b. 1955) — Dances with Wolves Oscar winner
Kevin Durant (b. 1988) — One of the NBA's greatest scorers
Knox
No documented entry for Knox yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Kevin if you want…
- a name fewer children share#221 in 2025 — kevin will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsKevin is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itKevin runs 2 syllables, Knox 1
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 49% for Knox
Choose Knox if you want…
- a name most people already know#196 in 2025, 1,836 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 42 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesKnox is 1 syllable to Kevin's 2
- a name that feels very nowKnox is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Kevin
Strengths
- The meaning is gentle, which almost no other men's name of its age can say.
- Kev is a clean short form that works in any English-speaking country.
- The saint behind it is a real and well-documented figure with a place still attached to him.
To consider
- A very great many people carry it, so a Kevin will rarely be the only one in a room over a lifetime.
- In France and Germany the name arrived later and carries class associations it does not carry here, which matters if the family moves.
- It is strongly associated with one American generation and dates a person fairly closely.
Knox
Strengths
- One syllable and one accepted pronunciation — no regional variants to correct.
- Short and easy to write, which matters for a child learning to sign their own name.
- A documented surname record stretching back centuries in Scotland, and long familiar on the American map.
To consider
- The silent K trips people who hear it before they see it, so expect to spell it out on forms and over the phone now and then.
- It is already as short as it goes. There is no gentler or longer version to fall back on — no formal form for a résumé, no softer form for a toddler.
- The final -x can collide with surnames beginning in s or z. Say the full name aloud a few times before deciding.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Kevin
12%chance Kevin feels dated by 2040
Kevin has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Knox
49%chance Knox feels dated by 2040
Knox is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Kevin and Knox in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Kevin and Knox?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Baby Boomer names (born 1946–1964)
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- all guides
Where Kevin and Knox each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Kevin or Knox — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Kevin or Knox?
- Knox, in 2025: Knox ranked #196 with 1,836 babies; Kevin ranked #221 with 1,628 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Kevin or Knox?
- Knox. Over the last five years Kevin moved down 64 places; Knox moved up 42 places.
- Which is the older name, Kevin or Knox?
- Kevin entered the US charts in 1912; Knox entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Knox is the older name.
- How many people are named Kevin and Knox?
- About 1,053,000 people named Kevin are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 23,500 people named Knox are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Kevins or Knoxs in the classroom?
- Kevin will almost certainly be the only one in school. Knox will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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