Kinley
- Gender
- Mostly girls
- Say it
- KIN-lee
- Origin
- Scottish
- UK rank, 2025
- #3,021 for boys
- US rank, 2025
- #691 for girls
Kinley is a name of Scottish origin, meaning “son of Fionnlagh”. In 2025 it ranked 3,021st for boys in the UK (7 babies) and 691st for girls in the US (409 babies).
What does Kinley mean?
Scottish: short form of the surname McKinley
“son of Fionnlagh”
From McKinley, Gaelic Mac Fhionnlaigh, 'son of Fionnlagh', the name anglicised as Finlay.
More on Wiktionary.
Is Kinley a girl's or a boy's name?
In recent years, Kinley has been given to girls and boys, mostly girls. In 2025, it was given to 7 boys in the UK and 409 girls in the US.
How popular is Kinley in the UK?
No girls in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 2021, with 7 girls. 7 boys were also named Kinley in 2025 (3,021st for boys).
Half of all the girls named Kinley in the UK since 1996 were born between 2013 and 2021, the years shaded on the chart below.
Kinley in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | #4,907 |
| 2023 | 4 | #4,915 |
| 2022 | 6 | #3,728 |
| 2021 | 7 | #3,338 |
| 2020 | 3 | #5,734 |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 2 | #7,433 |
| 2017 | 4 | #4,967 |
| 2016 | 2 | #7,579 |
| 2015 | 2 | #7,531 |
| 2014 | 6 | #3,702 |
| 2013 | 5 | #4,267 |
| 2012 | 4 | #5,058 |
| 2011 | 5 | #4,244 |
| 2010 | 1 | #7,520 |
| 2009 | 0 | – |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 0 | – |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 0 | – |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 0 | – |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 1 | #5,110 |
How popular is Kinley in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #691among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 409about 1 in 3,900 girls
- Five-year trend
- Fallingdown 43% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 409 girls in the US were named Kinley, making it the 691st most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 434th. Its busiest year was 2012, with 1,750 girls. It first appears in the records in 1979.
It has been given to fewer girls each year for the last 11 years. 2025 had fewer girls named Kinley than any year since 2007.
Half of all the girls named Kinley in the US since 1880 were born between 2011 and 2018, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 765 girls in the US were given Kinley or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #428, up from #691 for this spelling alone.
Kinley in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 409 | #691 |
| 2024 | 485 | #617 |
| 2023 | 500 | #596 |
| 2022 | 593 | #526 |
| 2021 | 617 | #505 |
| 2020 | 707 | #434 |
| 2019 | 770 | #405 |
| 2018 | 984 | #331 |
| 2017 | 1,019 | #322 |
| 2016 | 1,248 | #254 |
| 2015 | 1,408 | #235 |
| 2014 | 1,619 | #209 |
| 2013 | 1,560 | #208 |
| 2012 | 1,750 | #180 |
| 2011 | 1,641 | #195 |
| 2010 | 1,352 | #232 |
| 2009 | 688 | #453 |
| 2008 | 462 | #665 |
| 2007 | 325 | #862 |
| 2006 | 292 | #908 |
| 2005 | 241 | #1,011 |
| 2004 | 233 | #1,014 |
| 2003 | 203 | #1,083 |
| 2002 | 163 | #1,227 |
| 2001 | 162 | #1,237 |
| 2000 | 128 | #1,429 |
| 1999 | 122 | #1,429 |
| 1998 | 87 | #1,786 |
| 1997 | 53 | #2,447 |
| 1996 | 19 | #5,060 |
| 1995 | 19 | #5,014 |
| 1994 | 11 | #7,598 |
| 1993 | 9 | #8,712 |
| 1992 | 17 | #5,477 |
| 1991 | 8 | #9,328 |
| 1990 | 8 | #9,241 |
| 1989 | 8 | #8,755 |
| 1988 | 11 | #6,661 |
| 1987 | 7 | #8,773 |
| 1986 | 7 | #8,518 |
| 1985 | 9 | #6,952 |
| 1984 | 0 | – |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 0 | – |
| 1981 | 0 | – |
| 1980 | 0 | – |
| 1979 | 5 | #10,208 |
Names like Kinley
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Teagan Finley Brynlee Brynn Kennedy Kensley Braelynn Kenley Cassidy Briar Rowan Brooklyn
Other spellings of Kinley
Kynlee Kinlee Kinleigh Kynleigh Kinnley Kynli Kynlei Kynlie Kynley
Names related to Kinley
More Scottish names
Isla Logan Arabella Cameron Bonnie Paisley Brody Carson Maxwell Brodie Finlay Blair Lennox Skye Knox Dallas
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, “Kinley: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kinley, updated 20 October 2026.