Name Awesome

Kearney

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

Kearney has been given to 327 babies in the U.S. since 1914. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1924, with 10 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 84% boys, 16% girls all-time.

Babies named Kearney, 2007

1 in 666,000

Kearney over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02.557.51018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Kearney over time

In 2012, Kearney went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19142012

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Kearney: meaning, origin, and history

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

surname transfer

What Kearney means

Kearney is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Kearney is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Kearney is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 275 boys were recorded with the name Kearney between 1914 and 2007. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1924; its best national rank was #2,320 in 1945.

In the United States, 52 girls were recorded with the name Kearney between 1994 and 2012. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1994; its best national rank was #11,112 in 1994.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Kearney?

Kearney had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2007, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2007
1 in 666,000
6 of 3,997,748 births
Among boys only
1 in 346,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2007
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
461,839 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kearney sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2007 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 461,839 children born in 2007 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kearney. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kearneys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kearney was born before 1940 — so the typical Kearney is around 85 today.

Median birth year
1940
About 85 years old
Biggest decade
1940s
20.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
4.0%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
82
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1940s — 20.7% of all recorded uses (57).

Is Kearney rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1924 (10)
Years since peak
101
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
35.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,320
1945

Spellings of Kearney

Kearney is not the most common spelling — Barney is, with 72.8% against Kearney's 1.2%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Kearney around the world

Where Kearney ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2000–2000
    #3,036
    in 2000

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Kearney by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,320
1945
Peak year
1924
10 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
2007
All-time count
275
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#11,112
1994
Peak year
1994
7 that year
First recorded
1994
Last recorded
2012
All-time count
52
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kearney

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KeastonKealiiKealanKeaghanKeatynKeahiKeanoKeaweKeagonKeanteKeatenKeandreKeanonKeanenDelaneyKeaireKeaundreKeananCordneyRooneyKealohaKeathKortneyKeaden

Sibling names for Kearney

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Kearney

Top names of 1924, Kearney's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1945Boys' names starting with K