Kodey
Masculine
Kodey is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 684 boys against 11 girls since 1880.
Kodey changes two letters of an Irish surname and the record holds it almost entirely for sons. The English word it accidentally spells began as a lump of wood.
How old is the name Kodey?
Kodey first appears in US birth records in 1983 — 42 years ago. The typical Kodey alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 700 people named Kodey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kodey most popular?
Kodey peaked in 1995, reaching #1914 nationally. See the whole 1995 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ó Cuidighthigh to Kodey
The story of Kodey
A codex was originally a block of wood. The Latin word meant a tree trunk or a log, and then a set of wooden tablets waxed and hinged together to write on — which is a book in embryo, because it opens and shuts and has pages. When the Romans began binding sheets of parchment the same way, the word came with it, and that is why the bound book is called a codex and the rolled scroll is not. The shift mattered enormously: a codex can be opened at any page, written on both sides, and carried, and early Christians adopted it almost universally while pagan literature stayed on scrolls for centuries. The same word gives a legal code, because Roman law was published in bound collections, and from there a code of conduct, a code of signals and eventually source code.
Meaningscholars disagree
probably from an Irish surname about helpfulness
The surname is usually derived from an Irish personal name built on a word meaning helpful, though the derivation is not secure. This spelling adds a letter and changes another, neither of which is audible, and the resemblance to the English word is a coincidence.
How the name formed
- Ó Cuidighthigh
- Cody
- Kodey
Pronouncing Kodey
KOH-dee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Both changed letters are silent alterations; the name is said exactly as the standard spelling is.
Nicknames for Kodey
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
- 1983
- Most boys named
- 199544 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1914reached in 1995
- Change vs 2016
- −45.5%6 in 2017, from 11
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.
Kodeys among us
people named Kodey 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
Kodey 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
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest shape English has.
- The sound is entirely familiar, so nobody has to be taught it.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- Cody, Kody and Codey are all recorded and will be written for it.
- The spelling has to be given aloud every time, letter by letter.
- The surname's own derivation is not secure, so the meaning comes with a qualification.
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Kodey
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Kodeys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Kodey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kodey in 2025?
- Kodey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Kodey with classmates?
- Kodey 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 Kodey? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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