Kailer
Masculine
Kailer is given to both — 778 boys and 42 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Kailer belongs to the Kai- family of recent American naming and takes an -er ending that reads as a surname. It has no ancestry and a completely obvious pronunciation.
How old is the name Kailer?
Kailer first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Kailer is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 800 people named Kailer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kailer most popular?
Kailer peaked in 2021, reaching #2552 nationally. Today it ranks #3314, 762 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kailer
Ours, offered as ours. Kai is one of the genuinely remarkable names of the last thirty years, because at least four unrelated languages arrived at it independently — Hawaiian, Frisian, Japanese and Chinese all have a Kai, and none borrowed from the others. Kailer takes that already-multinational sound and adds an ending that makes it read as an English surname. The result is a name that could plausibly have come from anywhere, which is either the whole point of it or its only real drawback.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source language is established. The Kai- opening is documented in several unrelated traditions — Hawaiian kai, the sea; Danish and Frisian Kai; and Japanese Kai — and the -er ending is a modern American suffix borrowed from surnames. Neither is recorded as the source of the compound.
Pronouncing Kailer
KAY-ler
Two syllables, first stressed. Kailer and Kaylor are said almost identically.
Nicknames for Kailer
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
- 1998
- Most boys named
- 202151 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2552reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- +6.1%35 in 2025, from 33
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.
Kailer in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida.
Kailers among us
people named Kailer are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 48,802 born in 2025 was named Kailer
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kailer
- #3314
- Kailer on the 2025 chart
- #872
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kailer went to 35 boys in 2025, but Kayler is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 56, which makes it the 872nd most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,442 places above the chart.
- Kailer35
- Kayler21
About 1 boy in 30,501 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 48,802 for Kailer 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 Kedar test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kailer's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kedar climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kedar's path sketches the road Kailer is walking now.
Kailer 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 Kailer is headed
Kailer 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.
Kailer beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kailer in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kai is a complete short form with real standing in several languages.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Rare in the records, so it stays distinct on a class list.
- Kailer, Kaylor and Kaler all appear and none is dominant.
- It is close enough to Tyler and Kaylor to be misheard.
- There is no documented meaning, only a construction.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kailer
Masculine · #3314 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kailers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Kailer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kailer?
- Kailer is the most-used spelling in US records — 35 of the 56 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kayler.
- How popular is the name Kailer in 2025?
- Kailer ranks #3314 among US boy names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kailer?
- About 1 in every 48,802 US boys born in 2025 was named Kailer — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kailer with classmates?
- Kailer will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kailer
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rainier#3314 · Coulter#3314 · Caio#3314 · Kaydon#3314 · Daksh#3314 · Kree#3314 · Calen#3314 · Mathis#3314
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kailer? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kailer and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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