Kori
Feminine · “Several serious readings compete”
Kori is given to both — 14,822 girls and 1,565 boys since 1880. See Kori as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Kori belongs to the wide, well-worn family of Corey, Cory and Corrie — a name that reached English through surnames from the north of Britain and Ireland, then found a second life in America with a K and a soft -i at the end. It is two beats and done: KOR-ee, the same shape as story and glory. Familiar to nearly every ear on first hearing, yet a child carrying this exact spelling is unlikely to meet another.
How old is the name Kori?
Kori first appears in US birth records in 1953 — 72 years ago. The typical Kori alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 14,500 people named Kori are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kori most popular?
Kori peaked in 2016, reaching #631 nationally. Today it ranks #978, 347 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Kori appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Corey to Kori
The story of Kori
The Cory/Corey line comes into English from surnames rather than from scripture or saints — a Scottish place-name for a hollow in the hills, an Irish family name, and an Old Norse personal name all feeding the same small pool of spellings. Those surnames became first names in the English-speaking world, and in twentieth-century America the pool widened further: Corey, Cory, Kory, Cori, Corrie and Kori all circulating at once. The K- opening and the -i ending place this version squarely in the American fashion that also produced Jodi, Traci, Kerri and Terri, where the final vowel was written short and bright. Kori arrived on the girls' side of that fashion and has stayed there, quietly, ever since.
Meaningscholars disagree
Several serious readings compete — a hollow among hills, a descendant of Comhraidhe, or the Greek korē, 'maiden'
As a respelling of Cory/Corey, it inherits that name's unsettled history: the Scottish place-name Corrie, from Gaelic coire, 'cauldron, hollow'; the Irish surname Ó Comhraidhe; and an Old Norse personal name Kóri whose own meaning was never pinned down. Because Kori has also been used as a short form of Cora, Corinne and Korina, the Greek korē, 'maiden', is a genuine fourth road. No single one of these can claim the whole name.
How the name formed
- Corey
- Cory
- Kory
- Kori
Related forms: Corey · Cory · Kory · Cori · Corrie · Comhraidhe
Pronouncing Kori
KOR-ee
Stress on the first syllable, rhyming with story. Identical in sound to Corey, Cory and Cori — the difference lives entirely on paper.
Nicknames for Kori
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
- 2016475 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #631reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- −13.0%260 in 2025, from 299
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.
Kori in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Corey in English — spelling variant
- Cory in English — spelling variant
- Kory in English — spelling variant
- Cori in English — spelling variant
- Corrie in Dutch — related form
- Comhraidhe in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, Maryland.
Koris among us
people named Kori are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 6,182 born in 2025 was named Kori
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kori
- #978
- Kori on the 2025 chart
- #571
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kori went to 260 girls in 2025, but Cori, Khori and Cory and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 8 spellings went to 423, which makes it the 571st most-given girls’ name of the year — 407 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 3,800 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 6,182 for Kori 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 Ginny test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kori's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ginny climbed just as high around 1958, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ginny's path sketches the road Kori is walking now.
Kori 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 Kori is headed
Kori should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Kori beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kori in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables, no silent letters, and a pronunciation nobody has to guess at — an English speaker reads it correctly on sight.
- Sits inside the long-established Corey/Cory family, so it is instantly familiar to the ear even where the spelling is new.
- Short and self-contained: it needs no nickname, and works the same on a name tag, a form and a roll call.
- Travels easily across English-speaking countries and pronounces cleanly in most European languages.
- The sound belongs to at least six spellings — Corey, Cory, Kory, Cori, Corrie, Kori. Expect to spell it out at appointments and in emails for life, and expect a fair share of mail addressed to Corey.
- The K-plus-i pattern is tied to a particular stretch of American naming fashion, and most people carrying this spelling are adults rather than children. On a child it will read as slightly of another moment — which is also how names come back around.
- In the wider Corey/Cory family, the traditional spellings lean male. Kori is recorded on the girls' side, but some people will assume a boy before they meet the child.
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What they receive
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Kori
Feminine · #978 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Koris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 14,500 people named Kori are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kori?
- Kori is the most-used spelling in US records — 260 of the 423 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Cori, Khori, Cory, Kory, Korii, Korri and Qori.
- How popular is the name Kori in 2025?
- Kori ranks #978 among US girl names in 2025, with 260 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kori?
- About 1 in every 6,182 US girls born in 2025 was named Kori — 260 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kori with classmates?
- Kori will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kori
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roselyn#979 · Ashlynn#980 · Cordelia#980 · Khadija#980 · Marleigh#975 · Novalee#975 · Arden#975 · Akira#983
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kori? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kori and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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