Head to head · Boys' names
Kingston vs Timothy
#204 vs #203 in 2025
Timothy is a whisker ahead (#203 vs #204 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Timothy is holding its place on the charts, Kingston 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, Timothy leads 5 measures of 6; Kingston leads 0.
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: Kingston —, Timothy #187 — Timothy higher
- 1890s: Kingston —, Timothy #211 — Timothy higher
- 1900s: Kingston —, Timothy #244 — Timothy higher
- 1910s: Kingston #4168, Timothy #328 — Timothy higher
- 1920s: Kingston #2986, Timothy #338 — Timothy higher
- 1930s: Kingston #3649, Timothy #254 — Timothy higher
- 1940s: Kingston #3159, Timothy #81 — Timothy higher
- 1950s: Kingston #3372, Timothy #22 — Timothy higher
- 1960s: Kingston #3318, Timothy #14 — Timothy higher
- 1970s: Kingston #4682, Timothy #20 — Timothy higher
- 1980s: Kingston #5206, Timothy #25 — Timothy higher
- 1990s: Kingston #3784, Timothy #39 — Timothy higher
- 2000s: Kingston #1630, Timothy #84 — Timothy higher
- 2010s: Kingston #164, Timothy #143 — Timothy higher
- 2020s: Kingston #146, Timothy #202 — Kingston higher
Timothy stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Kingston took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Kingston | Timothy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #187 |
| 1890s | — | #211 |
| 1900s | — | #244 |
| 1910s | #4168 | #328 |
| 1920s | #2986 | #338 |
| 1930s | #3649 | #254 |
| 1940s | #3159 | #81 |
| 1950s | #3372 | #22 |
| 1960s | #3318 | #14 |
| 1970s | #4682 | #20 |
| 1980s | #5206 | #25 |
| 1990s | #3784 | #39 |
| 2000s | #1630 | #84 |
| 2010s | #164 | #143 |
| 2020s | #146 | #202 |
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
Kingston
king's estate, royal manor
From Old English cyning (king) and tūn (enclosure, farmstead, settlement) — the same tūn that ends hundreds of English place names.
cyningestūn (Old English) → Kingston (English place name) → Kingston (surname) → Kingston (given name)
How it traveled
Kingston is an English place name, formed from cyning and tūn, and it was applied over and over to land held by the crown; dozens of Kingstons still dot the map of England. One of them, Kingston upon Thames, was the site where Anglo-Saxon kings were crowned in the tenth century.
Timothy
honoring God
Greek Timotheos joins time, honor or worth, with theos, god. The compound can be read either way round — honoring God, or honored by God — and Greek does not settle it. The derivation itself is not disputed. Timothy of the epistles was Paul's traveling companion and the recipient of two letters; the name reached English in its Latin form and was anglicized during the sixteenth century.
Timotheos → Timotheus → Timothy
How it traveled
Timothy grass takes its name from Timothy Hanson, an eighteenth-century American farmer who promoted it as fodder — one of the very few cases where an ordinary man's first name became a botanical one. So a Timothy carries a Greek compound about honor and a hayfield at the same time.
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
Kingston
KING-stun
Stress on the first syllable. The t is barely sounded by many American speakers, giving KING-sn. Spelling and sound match closely, so it rarely needs repeating.
- King — The most common short form, and also used on its own as a given name in American records.
- Kings — Informal, mostly family and friends.
- Kingy — A young-childhood diminutive that tends not to last.
- Ston — Rare, used informally by peers rather than adults.
Timothy
TIM-uh-thee
TIM-uh-thee, three syllables, stress at the front, the middle reduced, the th as in think. Greek said the middle vowel fully and put the weight further back, so the English name has flattened it considerably.
- Tim — The front clipped, and a complete working name; what most Timothys go by.
- Timmy — The same softened, which belongs to childhood in most households.
- Timo — The European short form, standard across Finland and Germany and increasingly heard here.
Who has carried each name
Kingston
No documented entry for Kingston yet.
Timothy
Timothy Dalton (b. 1946) — James Bond of the late '80s
Timothy Olyphant (b. 1968) — Justified's Raylan Givens
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 Kingston if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKingston is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesKingston is 2 syllables to Timothy's 3
- a newer arrivalKingston entered the US charts in 1919
- a name that feels very nowKingston is stepping back from its peak
Choose Timothy if you want…
- a name with more sound in itTimothy runs 3 syllables, Kingston 2
- a long American recordTimothy was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Kingston
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
Kingston
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for English speakers, and already familiar from the map — Kingston in Jamaica, in England, in Canada.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, King, which is itself an established given name in the US.
- A word with a documented Old English origin and a clear meaning, unlike many modern place-name firsts.
To consider
- The nickname King is close to inevitable, and it carries a lot. Worth deciding in advance whether you are comfortable hearing it daily.
- Almost everyone who has this name right now is a child, so it reads as distinctly of the present moment rather than age-neutral — something to weigh if you want a name that sits easily on an adult too.
- It is regularly confused in speech and writing with Kingsley and Kinsley, both in use at the same time.
Timothy
Strengths
- The Greek compound is settled and both halves are ordinary, dignified words.
- Tim is a complete working short form that needs no explanation anywhere.
- It has been in continuous English use for four centuries without belonging to one decade.
To consider
- A great many people carry it, so a Timothy will rarely be the only Tim in a room.
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the last century in America.
- Almost every Timothy is called Tim, so the full name is largely ceremonial.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Kingston
40%chance Kingston feels dated by 2040
Kingston sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Timothy
12%chance Timothy feels dated by 2040
Timothy 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.
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 Kingston and Timothy 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 Kingston and Timothy?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Southern charm: names the South loves best
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Place names on the map and the birth certificate
- Royal title names: King, Reign, Royal
- all guides
Where Kingston and Timothy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Kingston or Timothy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Kingston or Timothy?
- Timothy, in 2025: Timothy ranked #203 with 1,734 babies; Kingston ranked #204 with 1,725 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Kingston or Timothy?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Kingston moved down 87 places; Timothy moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Kingston or Timothy?
- Kingston entered the US charts in 1919; Timothy was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Timothy is the older name.
- How many people are named Kingston and Timothy?
- About 46,000 people named Kingston are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 922,000 people named Timothy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Kingstons or Timothys in the classroom?
- Kingston will almost certainly be the only one in school. Timothy 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
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