Kaylin
Feminine
Kaylin is given to both — 19,307 girls and 627 boys since 1880. See Kaylin as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Kaylin joins Kay to the -lin ending, and Kay itself is a letter written out — one of the busiest and least anchored names in the modern American registers.
How old is the name Kaylin?
Kaylin first appears in US birth records in 1953 — 72 years ago. The typical Kaylin alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 19,000 people named Kaylin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kaylin most popular?
Kaylin peaked in 2009, reaching #371 nationally. Today it ranks #1643, 1,272 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Kay to Kaylin
The story of Kaylin
Kay and Kayla rose through the twentieth century, and the -lyn ending had been attaching to fronts since the 1940s. Kaylin appears in the American registers from the 1980s and rose through the 2000s alongside Kaylynn, Kaelyn, Katelyn and Caitlin — four or five spellings of one sound at once. It is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Kay- front may be the letter K, a short form of Katherine, or the Kay- of Kayla, whose own origin is disputed between the Hebrew Kelila, 'crown', and a coinage. The -lin ending descends from Lynn, from the Welsh llyn, 'lake', or from Linda. Neither half resolves cleanly.
How the name formed
- Kay
- Kaylin
Related forms: Kaylyn · Kaelyn · Kaylynn
Pronouncing Kaylin
KAY-lin
Two syllables, stress on the first. All the spellings of the sound are said identically.
Nicknames for Kaylin
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
- 1953
- Most girls named
- 2008869 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #371reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −19.2%126 in 2025, from 156
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.
Kaylin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kaylyn in English — spelling variant
- Kaelyn in English — spelling variant
- Kaylynn in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Kaylins among us
people named Kaylin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,756 born in 2025 was named Kaylin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kaylin
- #1643
- Kaylin on the 2025 chart
- #447
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kaylin went to 126 girls in 2025, but Kaylynn, Kailyn and Kailynn and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 12 spellings went to 616, which makes it the 447th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,196 places above the chart.
and 4 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 2,609 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 12,756 for Kaylin 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 Melva test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kaylin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Melva climbed just as high around 1937, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Melva's path sketches the road Kaylin is walking now.
Kaylin 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 Kaylin is headed
Kaylin is easing off slowly — about 17% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
High 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.
Kaylin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kaylin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kay and Lin are two short forms, both with real records.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It belongs to one of the best-documented naming patterns in modern English.
- Neither half has a settled meaning.
- At least five spellings of the sound are in common use.
- It will be respelled by other people constantly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kaylin
Feminine · #1643 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kaylins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 19,000 people named Kaylin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kaylin?
- Kaylin is one of 8 recorded spellings. Kaylynn is the more common one — 134 births in 2025 against 126 for Kaylin.
- How popular is the name Kaylin in 2025?
- Kaylin ranks #1643 among US girl names in 2025, with 126 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kaylin?
- About 1 in every 12,756 US girls born in 2025 was named Kaylin — 126 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kaylin with classmates?
- Kaylin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kaylin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Larissa#1643 · Lilyanna#1643 · Anvi#1643 · Kylah#1643 · Rilynn#1643 · Liza#1643 · Samiyah#1643 · Yazmin#1643
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kaylin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kaylin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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