Kayle
Masculine
Kayle is given to both — 626 boys and 4,028 girls since 1880. See Kayle as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Kayle is a modern American name that leans to girls, with a real minority of boys, and sits between Kyle and Kaylee. Said aloud it is almost the Scots word kail, 'cabbage', which gave its name to a whole school of sentimental fiction.
How old is the name Kayle?
Kayle first appears in US birth records in 1948 — 77 years ago. The typical Kayle alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 600 people named Kayle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kayle most popular?
Kayle peaked in 1990, reaching #2373 nationally. See the whole 1990 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kayle
In the 1890s a group of Scottish writers, J. M. Barrie among them, wrote warm stories of village life, and a critic dismissed them as the Kailyard school — kailyard being the Scots word for a cabbage patch, from a line about a bonnie brier bush in a kailyard. The name stuck. Kayle was not built from it; it came from Kyle and Kaylee and the easy sounds of its own day. But it shares a word with a humble garden, and that is not a bad thing to share.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Kayle may be Kyle made feminine or Kaylee shortened, and nothing records which. It is not documented as related to the Scots word.
Pronouncing Kayle
KAYL
One syllable, rhyming with sail; some families say KAY-lee.
Nicknames for Kayle
Limited
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
- 1948
- Most boys named
- 199029 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2373reached in 1990
- Change vs 2013
- +22.2%11 in 2014, from 9
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.
Kayles among us
people named Kayle are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Kayle sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Short and easy to say.
- Works for either child.
- Rare, so a Kayle is unlikely to share the name.
- People will hear Kyle or Kaylee and write it that way.
- It can be said in one syllable or two; say which one early.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, but a real minority are boys; either may be taken for the other.
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Kayle
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Kayles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Kayle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kayle in 2025?
- Kayle is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Kayle with classmates?
- Kayle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Kenneth#294 · Kevin#221 · Kyle#508 · Keith#800 · Karl#1585 · Kaleb#295 · Kurt#2258 · Kelly#1867
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kayle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kayle and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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