Kestrel
Girl · KES-trel · English
Kestrel is a girls' name of English origin, meaning “small falcon”. In 2025 it ranked 6,837th for girls in the US (16 babies).
What does Kestrel mean?
English: English bird name, from Old French
“small falcon”
The kestrel is a small falcon famous for hovering; Barry Hines's novel A Kestrel for a Knave became the film Kes.
- Say it
- KES-trel
Is Kestrel a girl's or a boy's name?
Kestrel is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 16 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Kestrel in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #6,837among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 16about 1 in 100,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Steadydown 11% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 16 girls in the US were named Kestrel, making it the 6,837th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 7,964th. Its busiest year was 2019, with 19 girls. It first appears in the records in 1985.
Half of all the girls named Kestrel in the US since 1880 were born between 2003 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.
Kestrel in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 16 | #6,837 |
| 2024 | 8 | #11,117 |
| 2023 | 15 | #7,242 |
| 2022 | 16 | #6,979 |
| 2021 | 12 | #8,459 |
| 2020 | 13 | #7,964 |
| 2019 | 19 | #6,172 |
| 2018 | 12 | #8,612 |
| 2017 | 16 | #7,088 |
| 2016 | 8 | #11,776 |
| 2015 | 11 | #9,476 |
| 2014 | 17 | #6,985 |
| 2013 | 8 | #11,964 |
| 2012 | 9 | #11,251 |
| 2011 | 10 | #10,370 |
| 2010 | 5 | #16,985 |
| 2009 | 8 | #12,423 |
| 2008 | 7 | #13,827 |
| 2007 | 6 | #15,485 |
| 2006 | 9 | #11,412 |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 5 | #16,092 |
| 2003 | 9 | #10,420 |
| 2002 | 6 | #13,589 |
| 2001 | 8 | #11,013 |
| 2000 | 5 | #15,024 |
| 1999 | 9 | #9,472 |
| 1998 | 6 | #12,420 |
| 1997 | 12 | #7,278 |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 5 | #13,380 |
| 1994 | 6 | #11,771 |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 5 | #13,308 |
| 1991 | 0 | – |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 0 | – |
| 1988 | 0 | – |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 5 | #10,907 |
| 1985 | 6 | #9,304 |
Nicknames for Kestrel
- Kes
Names like Kestrel
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Kinsley Harper Bristol Parker Itzel Ellie Palmer Presley Harlow Miller Leighton Oakley
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