Kingsley
- Pronunciation
- [Kin-gsley]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- From The King's Meadow
- Origin
- English
About the Name Kingsley
Kingsley comes from the Old English elements meaning "the king's meadow" or "king's wood," originally a place name that later became a surname before crossing over into use as a first name. That regal, landscape-rooted origin gives it an air of grandeur balanced by the gentle, pastoral image of a meadow — a combination that has helped it feel both stately and friendly to modern ears. Like many English surnames drawn from the land, it carries a sense of rootedness and old-country dignity.
The most celebrated bearer of the name is the English novelist, poet, and critic Kingsley Amis (born 1922), whose six-decade career produced one of the most iconic bodies of late-twentieth-century English comic fiction, including his 1954 debut Lucky Jim. His prominence helped keep the name visible in literary circles long before its recent rise in American nurseries.
Kingsley first entered the US Social Security top-1000 for boys in 2010, climbed to its best rank of #584 in 2016, and has held a place in the rankings every year since, appearing at #984 in 2024 after standing at #850 in 2023 and #738 in 2022. In total it has been given to roughly 4,844 boys. Its single recorded variant is Kinsey. The name's surname-style polish, paired with the ready nickname King, has made it a contemporary favorite for parents who want something distinguished yet warm.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Kingsley
US Popularity History (2010–2024)
Annual US births named Kingsley by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2016 with 473 boys named Kingsley (boy rank #584 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2024, ranked #984 for boys (228 US births). That's 400 places below its 2016 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 Kingsley Most Popular?
Average boy-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 boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Kingsley the strongest states are Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | #251 | 17 |
| 2 | Mississippi | #458 | 42 |
| 3 | Nevada | #488 | 24 |
| 4 | Connecticut | #497 | 16 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | #524 | 24 |
| 6 | Arkansas | #545 | 17 |
| 7 | Iowa | #548 | 23 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | #570 | 58 |
| 9 | Maryland | #584 | 82 |
| 10 | Oregon | #585 | 25 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Kingsley in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsey | Victorious | Male | English |
Famous People Named Kingsley
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Kingsley.
- Kingsley Amis — Novelist (1922)
Looking for names like Kingsley?
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 Kingsley to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Kingsley against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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