Kylin
Masculine · “the qilin”
Kylin is given to both — 2,093 boys and 1,356 girls since 1880. See Kylin as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Kylin is the Chinese qilin — a mythical beast with the body of a deer and the scales of a dragon, which appears only in the reign of a just ruler.
How old is the name Kylin?
Kylin first appears in US birth records in 1987 — 38 years ago. The typical Kylin is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,100 people named Kylin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kylin most popular?
Kylin peaked in 2022, reaching #1284 nationally. Today it ranks #1728, 444 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Kylin appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From qilin to Kylin
The story of Kylin
The qilin appears in Chinese record from the fifth century BC and is said to arrive only when a sage or a just ruler is present; one was reported at Confucius's birth. Giraffes brought to Ming China in 1414 were presented as qilin. The modern American Kylin appears in the registers from the 1990s and is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
the qilin, a mythical beast
Kylin is an older English transliteration of the Chinese qilin, the auspicious hooved chimera of East Asian myth. A second and likelier route for American bearers is a modern coinage on the Ky- front and -lin ending, in the pattern of Kaylin and Rylin. Both are in circulation.
How the name formed
- qilin
- Kylin
Related forms: 麒麟 · Kirin · Kylen
Pronouncing Kylin
KY-lin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Chinese qilin is chee-LIN with a different opening consonant.
Nicknames for Kylin
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
- 1987
- Most boys named
- 2022149 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1284reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −20.3%94 in 2025, from 118
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.
Kylin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 麒麟 in Chinese — transliteration
- Kirin in Japanese — related form
- Kylen in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina.
Kylins among us
people named Kylin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,171 born in 2025 was named Kylin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kylin
- #1728
- Kylin on the 2025 chart
- #789
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kylin went to 94 boys in 2025, but Khylin, Kylyn and Kylinn and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 139, which makes it the 789th most-given boys’ name of the year — 939 places above the chart.
- Kylin94
- Khylin18
- Kylyn10
- Kylinn7
- Kilynn5
- Kylynn5
About 1 boy in 12,288 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 18,171 for Kylin 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 Quran test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kylin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Quran climbed just as high around 1997, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Quran's path sketches the road Kylin is walking now.
Kylin 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 Kylin is headed
Kylin 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.
Kylin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kylin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The qilin is a genuinely remarkable creature with a documented history.
- The giraffe-as-qilin episode of 1414 is a first-rate story.
- Ky and Lin are two short forms with real use.
- The Chinese route is a transliteration and most American bearers descend from the coinage.
- The Chinese pronunciation is entirely different.
- It is thoroughly unisex in American use.
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What they receive
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Kylin
Masculine · #1728 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kylins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Kylin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kylin?
- Kylin is the most-used spelling in US records — 94 of the 139 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Khylin, Kylyn, Kylinn, Kilynn and Kylynn.
- How popular is the name Kylin in 2025?
- Kylin ranks #1728 among US boy names in 2025, with 94 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kylin?
- About 1 in every 18,171 US boys born in 2025 was named Kylin — 94 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kylin with classmates?
- Kylin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kylin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Clinton#1728 · Jahir#1728 · Eder#1728 · Fredrick#1728 · Anson#1728 · Kain#1728 · Wilmer#1728 · Bentlee#1728
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kylin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kylin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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