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Kensley

#742 in 2025Girls' name

Variant of Kinsley

Kensley has been given to 9,285 babies in the U.S. since 1987. In 2025 it ranked #742 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 738 recorded.

Babies named Kensley, 2025

1 in 9,030

Kensley over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kensley: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Kinsley

surname transfer

What Kensley means

Kensley is a variant of Kinsley.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Kensley → Kinsley. The family’s meaning is “Cyne’s woodland clearing”, recorded in the naming reference for Kinsley.

Origin, language, and formation

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

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

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Kinsley.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,948 girls were recorded with the name Kensley between 1987 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 738 in 2018; its best national rank was #424 in 2018.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #454 in 2020 to #742 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #639 in 2015 to #742 in 2025.

In the United States, 337 boys were recorded with the name Kensley between 1989 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 19 in 2024; its best national rank was #5,168 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,576 in 2020 to #5,727 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #9,181 in 2015 to #5,727 in 2025.

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 Kensley?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 9,030
367 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 4,380
0.02% of girls
Rank, 2025
#742
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
6,262 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kensley sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 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 1001%
School of 5005%

Put another way: gather 6,262 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kensley. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kensleys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kensley was born before 2017 — so the typical Kensley is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
55.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
96.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
8,948
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 55.3% of all recorded uses (4,945).

Is Kensley 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
+3
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−288
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−103
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.82×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
49.7%
Peak was 2018 (738)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#424
2018

Spellings of Kensley

Kensley is not the most common spelling — Kelsey is, with 35.1% against Kensley's 2.1%.

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.

Where Kensley is used

Across 2016–2025, Kensley was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 541 girls, against 1 in 2,576 across all states with data. It was least common in Nevada (1 in 20,000).

5185 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 541
  2. 2Alabama1 in 671
  3. 3Louisiana1 in 855
  4. 4South Carolina1 in 1,000
  5. 5Arkansas1 in 1,124
  6. 6West Virginia1 in 1,220
  7. 7Georgia1 in 1,266
  8. 8Tennessee1 in 1,266

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Kensley is one of the more regionally concentrated names in the country — more concentrated than 90% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Kensley around the world

Where Kensley 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
    2021–2021
    #5,581
    in 2021
  • Canada
    2009–2024
    #1,854
    in 2024

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

Kensley by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#742
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 288
Best rank ever
#424
2018
Peak year
2018
738 that year
First recorded
1987
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,948
Count in 2025
367

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,727
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 151
Best rank ever
#5,168
2024
Peak year
2024
19 that year
First recorded
1989
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
337
Count in 2025
16

Names similar to Kensley

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

KenleyKenzleyKentleyKennleyKennediKendalKenishaKendylWhitleyWrenleyKennadiCharleyKendellKenadeeKennadyKenzieKeniaBrinleyKenzleeBerkleyKendyllHaisleyKennethKenslee

Names with a curve like Kensley

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Kensley, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

CharleighAvianaBraelynnJemmaSloanElliotLivElliottAddilynBrinleyCoralineIvanna

Sibling names for Kensley

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 Kensley

Top names of 2018, Kensley's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2018Girls' names starting with K