Nameling

Kyle

Gender
Boy
Say it
KYLE
Origin
Scottish
UK rank, 2025
#573 for boys
US rank, 2025
#508 for boys

Big in Scotland

Kyle is a boys' name of Scottish origin, meaning “narrow strait”. In 2025 it ranked 573rd for boys in the UK (74 babies) and 508th for boys in the US (594 babies).

What does Kyle mean?

Scottish: from a Scottish place name, from Gaelic caol

“narrow strait”

Kyle is a historic district of Ayrshire, and kyle names narrow sea channels such as the Kyle of Lochalsh.

More on Wiktionary.

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

Kyle is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 74 boys in the UK and 17 girls and 594 boys in the US.

How popular is Kyle in the UK?

Rank in 2025
#573among boys
Babies in 2025
74about 1 in 4,100 boys
Five-year trend
Fallingdown 54% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 74 boys in the UK were named Kyle, making it the 573rd most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 351st. Its busiest year was 1997, with 2,728 boys.

It has been given to fewer boys each year for the last 15 years. 2025 had the fewest boys named Kyle since the records began in 1996.

Half of all the boys named Kyle in the UK since 1996 were born between 1999 and 2008. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier boys aren't counted.

Among boys in 2025, it was 658th in England and Wales and 219th in Scotland.

In the England and Wales top 100 for boys, which the ONS has published every ten years since 1904: 1994 (#43) and 2004 (#37).

1996Busiest: 2,728 in 19972025
Kyle in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
202574#573
202475#569
202397#452
2022107#431
2021116#419
2020144#351
2019176#310
2018217#261
2017323#192
2016422#160
2015538#129
2014645#109
2013725#96
2012969#79
20111,002#73
20101,271#66
20091,271#64
20081,425#60
20071,928#42
20061,990#41
20052,164#37
20042,517#33
20032,373#36
20022,235#36
20012,056#39
20002,104#38
19992,519#33
19982,513#37
19972,728#35
19962,434#35

How popular is Kyle in the US?

Rank in 2025
#508among boys
Babies in 2025
594about 1 in 2,900 boys
Five-year trend
Fallingdown 50% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 594 boys in the US were named Kyle, making it the 508th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 313th. Its busiest year was 1990, with 22,710 boys. It first appears in the records in 1881. 17 girls were also named Kyle in 2025 (6,545th for girls).

It has been given to fewer boys each year for the last 10 years. 2025 had fewer boys named Kyle than any year since 1956.

Half of all the boys named Kyle in the US since 1880 were born between 1986 and 1998, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 618 boys in the US were given Kyle or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #490, up from #508 for this spelling alone.

In 2025, 3% of the babies named Kyle in the US were girls.

1881Busiest: 22,710 in 19902025
Kyle in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
2025594#508
2024721#439
2023758#417
2022808#394
2021899#363
20201,056#313
20191,386#262
20181,682#223
20171,842#210
20162,039#199
20152,394#174
20142,388#179
20132,589#155
20122,968#127
20113,269#120
20103,581#107
20094,180#99
20084,705#97
20075,355#86
20066,150#81
20056,688#68
20047,826#55
20038,651#53
200210,064#40
200110,568#40
200011,969#37
199913,774#28
199815,277#24
199715,919#24
199615,600#25
199516,761#24
199418,399#24
199319,454#23
199220,714#22
199121,610#21
199022,710#18
198920,882#20
198819,895#21
198719,862#22
198619,315#23
198516,523#27
198412,546#34
198312,372#34
19828,207#47
19816,570#52
19805,775#57
19795,449#56
19784,517#63
19773,505#79
19763,308#80
19752,833#88
19742,598#97
19732,372#110
19722,477#113
19712,823#116
19702,763#120
19692,134#143
19681,943#148
19672,139#138
19661,954#146
19651,169#210
19641,478#191
19631,628#180
19621,712#176
19611,159#232
19601,263#220
19591,146#237
19581,011#247
19571,033#241
1956470#344
1955404#359
1954402#360
1953360#357
1952381#351
1951343#368
1950239#429
1949144#562
1948130#584
1947151#548
1946107#621
194581#668
194496#626
1943121#576
1942112#587
1941119#546
194094#613
1939101#569
193877#690
1937106#563
193696#591
1935114#541
193487#642
193374#694
193278#697
193179#673
193089#654
192980#689
192874#743
1927102#619
192685#689
192584#703
192488#696
192368#815
192281#730
192167#843
192085#699
191952#927
191867#796
191775#699
191662#781
191565#741
191442#819
191325#995
191235#725
191111#1,037
191015#782
190911#893
190810#877
19078#998
190610#798
19059#836
190410#760
19037#910
19027#932
19010–
19007#1,049
18997#856
18980–
18970–
18966#981
18957#871
189410#667
18937#836
18926#955
18917#765
18905#994
18895#973
18889#704
18870–
18860–
18850–
18840–
18830–
18820–
18815#865

Names like Kyle

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

Luke Ryan Cameron Jake Blake Cole Dylan Aaron Nathan Connor Jamie Kieran

Other spellings of Kyle

Kyel Cyle

Names related to Kyle

Kylo Kyal Kayle Khyle

More Scottish names

Isla Finley Logan Arabella Bonnie Paisley Brody Carson Maxwell Brodie Finlay Blair Lennox Skye Knox Dallas

Every Scottish 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, “Kyle: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kyle, updated 20 October 2026.