Kellam

Boys' name

Variant of Kelham

Kellam has been given to 30 babies in the U.S. since 1981. 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 2014, with 7 recorded.

Babies named Kellam, 2014

1 in 530,000

Kellam over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kellam: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Kelham

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kellam means

Kellam is a variant of Kelham.

Origin, language, and formation

Kellam is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Kelham.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 30 boys were recorded with the name Kellam between 1981 and 2014. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2014; its best national rank was #6,796 in 1981.

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 Kellam?

Kellam had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2014, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2014: 1 in 530,000; 7 of 3,706,812 births
Among boys only: 1 in 274,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2014: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 367,053 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Kellam 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 2014 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 367,053 children born in 2014 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kellam. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kellams were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kellam was born before 2009 — so the typical Kellam is around 16 today.

Median birth year: 2009; About 16 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 43.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 83.3%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 30; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 43.3% of all recorded uses (13).

Is Kellam 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 2014 (7)
Years since peak: 11; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Very steady; 0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #6,796; 1981

Spellings of Kellam

Kellam is not the most common spelling — Kelly is, with 56.4% against Kellam's 0.02%.

Kelly56.4%82,400
Kellen11.7%17,042
Kellan7.4%10,752
Kelley4.3%6,286
Eliam3.0%4,439
Keller2.5%3,702
Keelan2.5%3,591
Willam2.4%3,516

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.

Kellam 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: #6,796; 1981
Peak year: 2014; 7 that year
First recorded: 1981
Last recorded: 2014
All-time count: 30
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Kellam

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

Kelyan Kellum Kelian Kelynn Kelcie Keltyn Kelias Kellee Kelce Keldin Kellyn Kelani Keldyn Kellian Aalam Kelsy Keltin Kelvion Kelston Dilam Kelle Kellon Kellar Kelten

Sibling names for Kellam

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

For a sister

Honesty Elayna Alaysia Montserrat Amia Priya Adilene Yamileth

For a brother

Jai Vihaan Casen Gannon Constantine Cain Anders Branson

Explore around Kellam

Top names of 2014, Kellam's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 1981 Boys' names starting with K