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Kain

Masculine · “acquired”

1973high 2016
#1728 in the U.S.holding its place on the charts
stable94 boys in 2025

Kain respells Cain, and the Hebrew name is glossed in Genesis itself — Eve names him saying she has acquired a man, from qanah, to acquire.

How old is the name Kain?

Kain first appears in US birth records in 1973 — 52 years ago. The typical Kain alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 3,700 people named Kain are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Kain most popular?

Kain peaked in 2016, reaching #1090 nationally. Today it ranks #1728, 638 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.

Compare this nameMore “K” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Kain

Cain kills Abel in the fourth chapter of Genesis and is marked and sent east; the name was avoided in Christian Europe for that reason. Kain is separately a Manx and Irish surname from Ó Catháin. The K spelling entered American given-name use in the twentieth century and is in current use.

Meaning

acquired, gotten

From the Hebrew Qayin, connected in Genesis 4 to qanah, 'to acquire' or 'to get' — Eve says she has gotten a man. The word may also relate to a term for a smith or metalworker. The gloss is in the text itself, which makes it unusually secure.

How the name formed

  1. qanah
  2. Qayin
  3. Cain
  4. Kain

Related forms: Cain · Qayin · Kain

Pronouncing Kain

KAYN

One syllable. Kain, Cain and Kane are homophones; only the spelling differs.

Nicknames for Kain

Moderate

KaiA substitution from the front sound, and a name in its own right
KThe initial alone, common where a short name wants shortening further
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1973–20251809001809419732025

US babies named Kain per year from 1973 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#10901970s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1973
Most boys named
2016180 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1090reached in 2016
Change vs 2024
−14.5%94 in 2025, from 110
Kain is holding steady. Its biggest year was 2016 (180 boys), and the last five years have moved the rank very little — the calm middle of the cycle, where names age slowly. The move since 2024: down 14.5%.

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.

Kain in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Cain in English — spelling variant
  • Qayin in Hebrew — related form
  • Kain in Manx — same name

Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.

Kains among us

3,700

people named Kain are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 18,171 born in 2025 was named Kain

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Kain

#1728
Kain on the 2025 chart
#637
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kain went to 94 boys in 2025, but Cain, Kayn and Kayin are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 307, which makes it the 637th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,091 places above the chart.

About 1 boy in 5,564 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 18,171 for Kain 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

III

Is it right for you

The Christos test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kain's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Christos climbed just as high around 1979, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Christos's path sketches the road Kain is walking now.

40%chance Kain will feel “very 2010s” by 2040
Kain, aligned on its peakChristos· peak 1979not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+50 yrsChristos · #3700Kain today
Kain today is about where Christos stood in 1988 — 9 years past a #1089-sized peak. By 2003, Christos had settled around #2454.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Kain 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 Kain is headed

19732030

US babies named Kain per year, 1973 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Kain should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady-6% by 2030projected around #1,892 in 2030

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.

Kain beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Kain in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Kainthis name94#1728Anson94#1728Bentlee94#1728Eder94#1728Fredrick94#1728

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • The Bible glosses the name on the page, which very few names can claim.
  • The Manx surname route gives it a second and quite separate tradition.
  • One syllable, firm, and never mispronounced.
What to consider
  • The biblical Cain is the first murderer, which is a serious association.
  • Kane is the commoner spelling of the sound as a given name.
  • The K does not remove the biblical reading.

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Kain

Masculine · #1728 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Kains are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,700 people named Kain are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Kain?
Kain is one of 4 recorded spellings. Cain is the more common one — 185 births in 2025 against 94 for Kain.
How popular is the name Kain in 2025?
Kain ranks #1728 among US boy names in 2025, with 94 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Kain?
About 1 in every 18,171 US boys born in 2025 was named Kain — 94 in all.
Will my child share the name Kain with classmates?
Kain will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Kain

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Anson#1728 · Bentlee#1728 · Eder#1728 · Fredrick#1728 · Clinton#1728 · Jahir#1728 · Wilmer#1728 · Simcha#1728

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kain? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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