Kacey
Feminine · “vigilant”
Kacey is given to both — 11,961 girls and 3,304 boys since 1880. See Kacey as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Behind Kacey stands an Irish surname, Ó Cathasaigh, carried out of Ireland by emigrant families and turned into a first name in America. The K spelling arrived later, and for some families it came by a second road entirely: the initials K.C. written out as a word. It has been on American birth records without a break since the mid-twentieth century, given in nearly equal numbers to girls and boys.
How old is the name Kacey?
Kacey first appears in US birth records in 1952 — 73 years ago. The typical Kacey alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 11,500 people named Kacey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kacey most popular?
Kacey peaked in 1991, reaching #577 nationally. Today it ranks #1117, 540 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Kacey appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Cathasach to Kacey
The story of Kacey
Cathasach was an Irish personal name meaning 'vigilant'; families descended from a man so called became Ó Cathasaigh, anglicized to Casey. Like many Irish surnames in America — Kelly, Ryan, Casey — it slid across into use as a given name, and unlike most it went to daughters and sons in roughly equal measure. The Kacey spelling belongs to the twentieth-century American habit of swapping C for K, and it settled in alongside Casey and Kasey rather than replacing them. It has stayed in continuous use since then, familiar in sound and unusual on paper.
Meaning
vigilant, watchful — from Irish cathasach
The underlying name is the Irish surname Ó Cathasaigh, 'descendant of Cathasach', from cathasach 'vigilant, watchful'. Separately, some Kaceys got the name as a spelling-out of the initials K.C., in which case the meaning belongs to whatever those initials stood for.
How the name formed
- Cathasach
- Ó Cathasaigh
- Casey
- Kacey
Related forms: Casey · Kasey · Kaci · Kacie · Ó Cathasaigh
Pronouncing Kacey
KAY-see
Two syllables, stress on the first, identical in sound to Casey. Nobody in an English-speaking country will need it explained.
Nicknames for Kacey
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1952
- Most girls named
- 1991402 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #577reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- −6.2%211 in 2025, from 225
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kacey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Casey in English — spelling variant
- Kasey in English — spelling variant
- Kaci in English — spelling variant
- Kacie in English — spelling variant
- Ó Cathasaigh in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Kaceys among us
people named Kacey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 7,617 born in 2025 was named Kacey
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kacey
- #1117
- Kacey on the 2025 chart
- #494
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kacey went to 211 girls in 2025, but Casey and Kasey are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 544, which makes it the 494th most-given girls’ name of the year — 623 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 2,955 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 7,617 for Kacey itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Stacia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kacey's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Stacia climbed just as high around 1971, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Stacia's path sketches the road Kacey is walking now.
Kacey 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Kacey is headed
Kacey should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kacey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kacey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Sounds like Casey, a name everyone already knows, so it is never mispronounced — only ever misspelled.
- Genuinely even between girls and boys, which is rare; the name does not have to be defended on either side.
- Short, two syllables, and easy for a small child to say and write early on.
- On American records continuously since the mid-twentieth century, with no sharp fashion spike to date it.
- Familiar enough to pass unremarked, uncommon enough that a classroom is unlikely to hold a second one.
- The spelling will be a lifelong small chore. Casey, Kasey, Kaci and Kacie all exist, and Kacey is not the default guess — expect to spell it out at appointments, on coffee cups and over the phone.
- With the girl/boy split close to even, people reading the name before meeting the child will guess, and often guess wrong. That is easy to live with, but it does happen on forms and in email.
- There is no longer formal version underneath — no Katherine or Cassius to fall back on. Kacey is the whole name, which suits some families and not others.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kacey to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kacey
Feminine · #1117 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kaceys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 11,500 people named Kacey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kacey?
- Kacey is one of 3 recorded spellings. Casey is the more common one — 228 births in 2025 against 211 for Kacey.
- How popular is the name Kacey in 2025?
- Kacey ranks #1117 among US girl names in 2025, with 211 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kacey?
- About 1 in every 7,617 US girls born in 2025 was named Kacey — 211 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kacey with classmates?
- Kacey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kacey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Imogen#1117 · Rhiannon#1119 · Ingrid#1120 · Raquel#1120 · Xolani#1120 · Princess#1120 · Ida#1120 · Betty#1113
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kacey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kacey and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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