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Kay

Gender
Mostly girls
Origin
Welsh
UK rank, 2025
#5,990 for girls
US rank, 2025
#3,902 for girls

Kay is a name of Welsh origin. In 2025 it ranked 5,990th for girls in the UK (3 babies) and 3,902nd for girls in the US (37 babies).

What does Kay mean?

Welsh

A male given name from Welsh, derived from the surnames, or from a rare medieval given name (as the Sir Kay of Arthurian legend), Welsh Cai, Latinized as Caius, related to the modern male name Kai.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

In recent years, Kay has been given to girls and boys, mostly girls. In 2025, it was given to 3 girls in the UK and 37 girls and 10 boys in the US.

How popular is Kay in the UK?

Rank in 2025
5,990th among girls
Babies in 2025
3 about 1 in 93,000 girls
Five-year trend
Too rare to call too few babies to tell
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 3 girls in the UK were named Kay, making it the 5,990th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 7,326th. Its busiest year was 1996, with 70 girls.

Half of all the girls named Kay in the UK since 1996 were born between 1998 and 2006. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier girls aren't counted.

Girls were 99% of the babies named Kay in the UK in 1996, and 73% in 2015.

Among girls in 2025, it was 5,925th in England and Wales.

In the England and Wales top 100 for girls, which the ONS has published every ten years since 1904: 1944 (#80), 1954 (#93) and 1964 (#86).

1996Busiest: 70 in 19962025
Kay in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
20253#5,990
20240–
20230–
20225#4,168
20210–
20201#7,326
20190–
20184#4,914
20179#2,864
20165#4,290
20158#3,114
20147#3,321
20136#3,719
201212#2,319
201110#2,582
20107#3,308
200912#2,153
200810#2,454
200717#1,614
200615#1,681
200524#1,128
200421#1,194
200327#965
200219#1,186
200142#670
200037#715
199937#704
199860#529
199751#579
199670#465

How popular is Kay in the US?

Rank in 2025
3,902nd among girls
Babies in 2025
37 about 1 in 43,000 girls
Five-year trend
Steady down 17% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 37 girls in the US were named Kay, making it the 3,902nd most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 3,546th. Its busiest year was 1942, with 3,622 girls. It first appears in the records in 1885. 10 boys were also named Kay in 2025 (7,675th for boys).

2025 had fewer girls named Kay than any year since 1903.

Half of all the girls named Kay in the US since 1880 were born between 1940 and 1957, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 79% of the babies named Kay in the US were girls.

1885Busiest: 3,622 in 19422025
Kay in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
202537#3,902
202438#3,892
202348#3,329
202247#3,364
202142#3,613
202042#3,546
201943#3,551
201863#2,710
201751#3,145
201647#3,379
201543#3,595
201460#2,841
201351#3,165
201252#3,168
201147#3,406
201047#3,408
200941#3,799
200846#3,528
200766#2,750
200663#2,778
200561#2,727
200467#2,500
200366#2,462
200279#2,123
200172#2,232
200074#2,154
199966#2,255
199870#2,080
199774#1,942
199667#2,056
199582#1,757
199488#1,683
1993100#1,552
1992104#1,504
1991104#1,497
1990114#1,381
1989117#1,323
1988141#1,103
1987118#1,216
1986129#1,122
1985139#1,060
1984147#979
1983150#973
1982151#981
1981164#912
1980153#966
1979156#942
1978155#913
1977195#774
1976191#755
1975206#717
1974239#639
1973272#581
1972251#619
1971376#503
1970476#455
1969498#432
1968637#353
1967711#327
1966856#295
19651,021#270
19641,301#243
19631,608#212
19621,878#197
19611,955#192
19601,925#192
19592,004#182
19582,238#169
19572,355#163
19562,394#154
19552,327#157
19542,506#146
19532,462#146
19522,768#133
19512,963#120
19502,628#123
19492,751#119
19482,943#113
19473,520#104
19463,358#101
19453,058#91
19443,170#88
19433,494#81
19423,622#75
19413,538#70
19403,200#77
19393,260#76
19383,114#81
19373,010#79
19362,408#98
19351,648#134
19341,430#143
1933864#200
1932658#238
1931558#259
1930351#358
1929218#447
1928223#462
1927267#419
1926224#457
1925248#439
1924302#395
1923285#396
1922281#390
1921304#383
1920313#370
1919330#354
1918311#368
1917283#376
1916272#380
1915243#386
1914215#361
1913159#381
1912143#384
1911111#382
1910106#381
190983#401
190875#417
190753#489
190642#541
190549#485
190439#529
190337#527
190226#648
190122#684
190026#705
189923#644
189814#920
189715#826
189613#903
189510#1,053
189414#812
189316#739
18927#1,171
18915#1,332
18905#1,337
18897#1,024
18886#1,136
18876#1,036
18866#993
18856#921

Names like Kay

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

Ffion, Connie, Kathleen, Caragh, Nancy, Kelly, Tegan, Eileen, Bonnie, Keira, Teagan, Bronwyn

Names related to Kay

Kaya, Kaiya, Kayah, Khaya, Kayo, Kiaya, Ka, Kaye

More Welsh names

Dylan, Owen, Winnie, Maddox, Morgan, Idris, Reese, Bowen, Griffin, Rhys, Gavin, Reece, Nia, Seren, Gwendolyn, Winifred

Every Welsh 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, “Kay: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kay, updated 20 October 2026.