How popular is the name Kelsey?

Kelsey ranks 249th among girls' names in US records, with 178,494 births since 1908. Over the past decade it accounts for 7,941.

Is Kelsey a unisex name?

No. Kelsey is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.

1992, when 13,015 children were given the name. It has been in use for 117 years and is still recorded as of 2024.

Kelcey, Kelsie. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.

Girl name#249 of girl names

Pronounced K EH1 L S IY0 (ARPABET)

Kelsey is a girls' name, and first appears in 1908. It has been given to 178,494 children — the 249th most common girls' name on record.

It is falling away, down 56% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1992, when 13,015 children were given it.

Two other spellings are counted in that total — Kelcey and Kelsie — because they are pronounced identically.

1992Girls: 13,015Boys: 195

These spellings sound identical to Kelsey and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

Phonetic detail

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

How popular is the name Kelsey?: Kelsey ranks 249th among girls' names in US records, with 178,494 births since 1908. Over the past decade it accounts for 7,941.
Is Kelsey a unisex name?: No. Kelsey is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Kelsey most popular?: 1992, when 13,015 children were given the name. It has been in use for 117 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
How else is Kelsey spelled?: Kelcey, Kelsie. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.