Kage
Masculine
Kage is a short, hard modern name that sits between three real words without descending from any of them: the English cage, the surname Gage, and the Japanese kage, meaning shadow. Which of those a family has in mind varies, and the name is used by parents who have all three in view and by parents who have none.
How old is the name Kage?
Kage first appears in US birth records in 1992 — 33 years ago. The typical Kage alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 1,500 people named Kage are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kage most popular?
Kage peaked in 2009, reaching #1774 nationally. Today it ranks #4857, 3,083 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kage
Hard consonants and single syllables have been the fashion in American boys' naming for two decades, and the K in particular does most of the work: Kai, Kane, Kade, Knox, Kage. What such names offer is speed. They are said in one beat, they carry across a playground, and they do not soften. Kage takes the shape of the established surname Gage and swaps the opening letter, which is enough to make it modern rather than inherited. It is a name chosen for how it sounds, and it sounds exactly as intended.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Not documented as an English name. Gage is a genuine Norman French surname from a word meaning a pledge or a measure. Japanese kage, shadow or shade, is a real word but not a personal name in Japan. Kage with a K is an American spelling and no source claims it.
Pronouncing Kage
KAYJ
One syllable, rhyming with page. The Japanese word that shares the spelling is said KAH-geh and is unrelated.
Nicknames for Kage
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
- 1992
- Most boys named
- 200985 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1774reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −25.9%20 in 2025, from 27
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.
Kage in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Kages among us
people named Kage are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 85,404 born in 2025 was named Kage
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kage
- #4857
- Kage on the 2025 chart
- #897
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kage went to 20 boys in 2025, but Cage is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 31, which makes it the 897th most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,960 places above the chart.
- Kage20
- Cage11
About 1 boy in 55,099 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 85,404 for Kage 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 Chan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kage's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Chan climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Chan's path sketches the road Kage is walking now.
Kage 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
Kage beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kage in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and one syllable: quick to write and impossible to mispronounce in English.
- It has the hard, fast sound that a large group of current boys' names shares.
- It works as a surname-shaped name without belonging to any particular family.
- It is a homophone of the word cage, which children will notice early.
- Gage and Cage are both established spellings and will be written instead.
- A single syllable gives no short form and no change of register between home and work.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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Kage
Masculine · #4857 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kages are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Kage are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kage?
- Kage is the most-used spelling in US records — 20 of the 31 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Cage.
- How popular is the name Kage in 2025?
- Kage ranks #4857 among US boy names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kage?
- About 1 in every 85,404 US boys born in 2025 was named Kage — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kage with classmates?
- Kage will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kage
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carlyle#4857 · Russ#4857 · Hercules#4857 · Marcial#4857 · Lauro#4857 · Marin#4857 · Gil#4857 · Aloysius#4857
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kage? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kage and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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