Kacey
Masculine · “vigilant”
Kacey is given to both — 3,304 boys and 11,961 girls since 1880. See Kacey as a girl 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 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Kacey alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 3,200 people named Kacey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kacey most popular?
Kacey peaked in 2021, reaching #996 nationally. Today it ranks #1154, 158 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
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
- 1965
- Most boys named
- 2021220 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #996reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −14.6%182 in 2025, from 213
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, Georgia, Florida.
Kaceys among us
people named Kacey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 9,385 born in 2025 was named Kacey
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kacey
- #1154
- Kacey on the 2025 chart
- #245
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kacey went to 182 boys in 2025, but Casey and Kasey are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 1,434, which makes it the 245th most-given boys’ name of the year — 909 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 1,191 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 9,385 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 Rashaun 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: Rashaun climbed just as high around 1978, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rashaun'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 looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 45% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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 boys 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
Masculine · #1154 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 3,200 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 — 1,072 births in 2025 against 182 for Kacey.
- How popular is the name Kacey in 2025?
- Kacey ranks #1154 among US boy names in 2025, with 182 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kacey?
- About 1 in every 9,385 US boys born in 2025 was named Kacey — 182 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.
Dangelo#1154 · Vaughn#1152 · Gianluca#1156 · Yasir#1156 · Braden#1152 · Osman#1156 · Booker#1159 · Kasey#1159
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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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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