Kody
Feminine · “descendant of the helpful one”
Kody is given to both — 879 girls and 23,762 boys since 1880. See Kody as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Kody is Cody with a K, and Cody is an Irish surname that became one of the most American names imaginable through a single showman. William F. Cody toured the world as Buffalo Bill for thirty years and made his surname a byword for the frontier. Its use on American girls peaks in 1991.
How old is the name Kody?
Kody first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Kody alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 900 people named Kody are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kody most popular?
Kody peaked in 1991, reaching #3207 nationally. Today it ranks #6116, 2,909 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From cuidightheach to Kody
The story of Kody
The O Cuidighthigh were a Munster family and the surname is common in Ireland. William Frederick Cody, born in Iowa in 1846, was a scout, buffalo hunter and showman whose Wild West exhibition toured America and Europe from 1883 to 1913 and shaped the world's picture of the American frontier more than any other single source. Cody, Wyoming, is named for him. The given name rose sharply in America from the 1970s, and the K respelling belongs to the wave that followed, along with a small girls' share that peaked around 1990 and then faded.
Meaningscholars disagree
descendant of the helpful one
The likeliest source is Irish O Cuidighthigh, from cuidightheach, 'helper, one who gives assistance' — so descendant of the helpful one. A second route runs through Mac Oda, from the Germanic name Odo, which came to Ireland with Norman settlers. Both are attested and English clerks anglicized both as Cody. The K spelling is entirely American and modern.
How the name formed
- cuidightheach
- O Cuidighthigh
- Cody
- Kody
Related forms: Cody · O Cuidighthigh · Kodi
Pronouncing Kody
KOH-dee
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a long o. Identical to Cody and Kodi; the spellings differ only on paper.
Nicknames for Kody
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
- 1965
- Most girls named
- 199134 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3207reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- −5.0%19 in 2025, from 20
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.
Kody in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cody in English — spelling variant
- O Cuidighthigh in Irish — related form
- Kodi in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Kodys among us
people named Kody are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 84,593 born in 2025 was named Kody
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kody
- #6116
- Kody on the 2025 chart
- #702
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kody went to 19 girls in 2025, but Kodi, Codi and Cody and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 263, which makes it the 702nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 5,414 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 6,111 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 84,593 for Kody 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 Bretta test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kody's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Bretta climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Bretta's path sketches the road Kody is walking now.
Kody 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
Kody beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kody in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The sound is thoroughly familiar and nobody has to be taught it.
- The Irish surname behind it has a genuine documented meaning.
- It is short and easy to spell in any of its versions.
- Cody, Kody and Kodi all circulate and hers will be written another way.
- It is far more common on boys, so forms will often assume male.
- Its American curve is around 1990, which places a bearer's generation.
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What they receive
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Kody
Feminine · #6116 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kodys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Kody are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kody?
- Kody is one of 5 recorded spellings. Kodi is the more common one — 171 births in 2025 against 19 for Kody.
- How popular is the name Kody in 2025?
- Kody ranks #6116 among US girl names in 2025, with 19 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kody?
- About 1 in every 84,593 US girls born in 2025 was named Kody — 19 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kody with classmates?
- Kody will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kody
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Alvina#6116 · Mena#6116 · Harvey#6116 · Kellie#6116 · Alden#6116 · Jeanna#6116 · Sammi#6116 · Mamie#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kody? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kody and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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