Kingsley
Feminine · “king's meadow”
Kingsley is given to both — 2,165 girls and 6,709 boys since 1880. See Kingsley as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Kingsley is the king's meadow, and the Old English cyning means one of the kin — a leader raised from within the tribe rather than set over it.
How old is the name Kingsley?
Kingsley first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Kingsley is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,200 people named Kingsley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kingsley most popular?
Kingsley peaked in 2020, reaching #1050 nationally. Today it ranks #1710, 660 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Where it comes from
From cynn to Kingsley
The story of Kingsley
Kingsley was an English place name and surname carried by Charles Kingsley, the Victorian novelist. It entered American given-name use for boys and then, from the 2010s, for girls in larger numbers — part of the wide movement of surname-names for daughters. Feminine Kingsley appears in the registers and is in current use.
Meaning
king's meadow
From the Old English cyning, 'king', and leah, 'wood' or 'clearing'. Cyning is built on cynn, 'kin', with a suffix meaning 'belonging to' — a leader of the kindred. Kingsley in Cheshire, Hampshire and Staffordshire all preserve it. The compound is documented.
How the name formed
- cynn
- cyning leah
- Kingsley
Related forms: Kingslee · Kinsley
Pronouncing Kingsley
KINGZ-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Kingsley
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
- 1977
- Most girls named
- 2020238 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1050reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- −3.3%119 in 2025, from 123
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.
Kingsley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kingslee in English — spelling variant
- Kinsley in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Kingsleys among us
people named Kingsley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 13,506 born in 2025 was named Kingsley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jovanna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kingsley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jovanna climbed just as high around 2001, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jovanna's path sketches the road Kingsley is walking now.
Kingsley 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 Kingsley is headed
Kingsley is easing off slowly — about 15% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Kingsley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kingsley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The one-of-the-kin etymology behind cyning is genuinely surprising.
- The king's-meadow meaning is concrete and belongs to a real family of place names.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It reads as masculine and as a surname to most English speakers.
- Kinsley is close enough to cause constant confusion.
- It is very new as a feminine given name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kingsley
Feminine · #1710 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kingsleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Kingsley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kingsley in 2025?
- Kingsley ranks #1710 among US girl names in 2025, with 119 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kingsley?
- About 1 in every 13,506 US girls born in 2025 was named Kingsley — 119 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kingsley with classmates?
- Kingsley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kingsley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Diya#1710 · Isa#1710 · Aleyah#1710 · Karoline#1710 · Evaluna#1710 · Azara#1710 · Aulani#1710 · Marwa#1710
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kingsley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kingsley and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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