Knox
Masculine · Old English roots · “Round hill”
Knox is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 24,142 boys against 240 girls since 1880.
Knox began as a Scottish hillside — a surname taken from small rounded hills in the Lowlands, then carried to Ulster and across the Atlantic. It is one syllable, four letters, and ends on that hard -x, so it lands in the mouth like a door closing neatly. Long a familiar surname in the English-speaking world, it has only lately become a first name in wide use.
How old is the name Knox?
Knox first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Knox is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 23,500 people named Knox are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Knox most popular?
Knox peaked in 2025, reaching #196 nationally. Today it ranks #196, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From cnocc (Old English, 'hillock') to Knox
The story of Knox
Knox is a Scottish surname taken from places named for a small round hill — Old English cnocc, borrowed into Scots. Families living at such a hill became de Knoc and then Knox, and the name spread through the Lowlands, into Ulster, and from there to the American colonies. In the United States it was fixed on the map early: Knoxville, Tennessee, and Fort Knox both honor Henry Knox, the Continental Army officer who became the first US Secretary of War. Its move into the first-name column follows a long American habit of promoting Scottish and Irish surnames — a habit that has been running for well over a century, though Knox's own turn came late.
Meaning
Round hill, hillock
From Old English cnocc, 'hillock', by way of Scottish place names such as Knock in Renfrewshire.
How the name formed
- cnoccOld English, 'hillock'
- KnockScottish place name
- de Knoc
- Knoxsurname
- Knoxgiven name
Pronouncing Knox
NOKS
The K is silent, as in knot and knee. One syllable everywhere in English; no competing pronunciations.
Nicknames for Knox
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
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 20251,836 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #196reached in 2025
- Change vs 2023
- +3.0%1,836 in 2025, from 1,783
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.
Knox in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, California.
Knoxs among us
people named Knox are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 930 born in 2025 was named Knox
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 Drake test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Knox's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Drake climbed just as high around 2010, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Drake's path sketches the road Knox is walking now.
Knox is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Knox is headed
Knox should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Knox beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Knox in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and one accepted pronunciation — no regional variants to correct.
- Short and easy to write, which matters for a child learning to sign their own name.
- A documented surname record stretching back centuries in Scotland, and long familiar on the American map.
- Well known as a word-shape even to people who have never met a Knox, so it is rarely questioned as a name.
- The silent K trips people who hear it before they see it, so expect to spell it out on forms and over the phone now and then.
- It is already as short as it goes. There is no gentler or longer version to fall back on — no formal form for a résumé, no softer form for a toddler.
- The final -x can collide with surnames beginning in s or z. Say the full name aloud a few times before deciding.
- Fort Knox and Knoxville come up in conversation, usually as a friendly joke rather than a burden.
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What they receive
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Knox
Masculine · Old English roots · #196 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Knoxs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 23,500 people named Knox are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Knox in 2025?
- Knox ranks #196 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,836 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Knox?
- About 1 in every 930 US boys born in 2025 was named Knox — 1,836 in all.
- Will my child share the name Knox with classmates?
- Knox will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Knox
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ashton#197 · Alejandro#195 · Jaziel#198 · Rory#199 · Legend#193 · Tate#193 · Andres#200 · Chase#192
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Knox? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Knox and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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