Kelsey
- Pronunciation
- [Kel-sey]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Brave.
- Origin
- Irish
Kelsey Popularity Snapshot
Across the entire US Social Security Administration record (1880–2024), 5,308 baby boys have been named Kelsey. The name peaked in 1989 with 250 US births that year (rank #631). In 2024, ranked #10380 nationally — 9,749 places below its 1989 peak.
Top States for Kelsey
Based on 1910–2024 US SSA state-level records, the three states with the most Kelsey births are: California (296), Texas (263), Georgia (254).
Other Irish-Origin Names Like Kelsey
If you like Kelsey's Irish origin, consider these related names: Abban, Abiageal, Abracham, Adare, Addergoole. Browse all Irish names →
6-Letter Names Starting with K
Names with Kelsey's exact length and starting letter: Kaaria, Kaarle, Kaarlo, Kabaka, Kadian.
Quick Facts About Kelsey
US Popularity History (1987–2025)
Annual US births named Kelsey by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1992 with 11,713 girls named Kelsey (girl rank #23 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #814 for girls (335 US births). That's 791 places below its 1992 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Kelsey Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Kelsey the strongest states are Mississippi, New York, Alabama.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | #340 | 67 |
| 2 | New York | #382 | 456 |
| 3 | Alabama | #417 | 110 |
| 4 | New Jersey | #421 | 195 |
| 5 | Connecticut | #428 | 63 |
| 6 | South Carolina | #429 | 91 |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | #429 | 260 |
| 8 | Nevada | #429 | 21 |
| 9 | Georgia | #429 | 255 |
| 10 | Maryland | #430 | 145 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado | #781 | 42 |
| 2 | Washington | #756 | 67 |
| 3 | Arizona | #705 | 71 |
| 4 | California | #669 | 489 |
| 5 | Indiana | #660 | 65 |
| 6 | Missouri | #657 | 94 |
| 7 | Texas | #646 | 473 |
| 8 | Oregon | #636 | 24 |
| 9 | Utah | #632 | 62 |
| 10 | Minnesota | #619 | 64 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Kelsey in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Looking for names like Kelsey?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Kelsey to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Kelsey against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).