Nameling

Kahlil

Gender
Boy
Say it
kah-LEEL
Origin
Arabic
UK rank, 2025
#4,301 for boys
US rank, 2025
#2,604 for boys

Kahlil is a boys' name of Arabic origin, meaning “close friend”. In 2025 it ranked 4,301st for boys in the UK (4 babies) and 2,604th for boys in the US (50 babies).

What does Kahlil mean?

Arabic: variant of Khalil

“close friend”

The spelling used by Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese-American author of The Prophet; Arabic khalil means close friend.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Kahlil a girl's or a boy's name?

Kahlil is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 4 boys in the UK and 50 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.

How popular is Kahlil in the UK?

Rank in 2025
#4,301among boys
Babies in 2025
4about 1 in 75,000 boys
Five-year trend
Risingup 62% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 4 boys in the UK were named Kahlil, making it the 4,301st most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 4,803rd. Its busiest year was 2022, with 10 boys.

Half of all the boys named Kahlil in the UK since 1996 were born between 2012 and 2023, the years shaded on the chart below.

Among boys in 2025, it was 4,212th in England and Wales.

2002Busiest: 10 in 20222025
Kahlil in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
20254#4,301
20245#3,772
20234#4,335
202210#2,279
20210–
20203#4,803
20195#3,597
20180–
20174#4,161
20160–
20150–
20143#4,829
20130–
20124#4,147
20110–
20100–
20090–
20086#2,906
20070–
20060–
20050–
20040–
20030–
20023#3,325

How popular is Kahlil in the US?

Rank in 2025
#2,604among boys
Babies in 2025
50about 1 in 34,000 boys
Five-year trend
Steadydown 24% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 50 boys in the US were named Kahlil, making it the 2,604th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,463rd. Its busiest year was 1995, with 268 boys. It first appears in the records in 1967.

2025 had fewer boys named Kahlil than any year since 1992.

Half of all the boys named Kahlil in the US since 1880 were born between 1995 and 2012, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 56 boys in the US were given Kahlil or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #2,060, up from #2,604 for this spelling alone.

1967Busiest: 268 in 19952025
Kahlil in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
202550#2,604
202484#1,891
202371#2,077
202287#1,839
202184#1,840
2020117#1,463
201989#1,755
201863#2,188
201785#1,792
201681#1,845
201563#2,169
201491#1,679
201382#1,762
201294#1,636
201198#1,577
2010110#1,481
2009104#1,561
2008121#1,399
200799#1,576
2006123#1,330
2005105#1,409
2004109#1,341
2003115#1,252
2002110#1,233
2001128#1,108
2000120#1,150
1999130#1,053
1998125#1,059
1997145#929
1996209#731
1995268#628
1994127#977
199365#1,439
199227#2,593
199134#2,137
199050#1,630
198938#1,914
198821#2,677
198728#2,111
198632#1,871
198523#2,292
198425#2,097
198319#2,492
198234#1,699
198133#1,725
198030#1,852
197942#1,435
197835#1,596
197741#1,431
197633#1,607
197532#1,592
197430#1,618
197333#1,485
197222#1,928
197118#2,202
197017#2,212
196910#2,860
196812#2,444
196712#2,351

Names like Kahlil

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Muhammad Khalil Khalid Ahmed Hamza Abdullah Mustafa Amir Musa Umar Syed Ibrahim

Other spellings of Kahlil

Cahlil

Names related to Kahlil

Kalil Khali Kahli Khaliel

More Arabic names

Layla Mohammed Lyla Mohammad Zara Aaliyah Amira Fatima Ali Yahya Zayn Aisha Omar Zahra Kairo Safa

Every Arabic name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Kahlil: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kahlil, updated 20 October 2026.