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Kiel

#11,396 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Kiel has been given to 2,535 babies in the U.S. since 1961. In 2025 it ranked #11,396 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1983, with 279 recorded.

Babies named Kiel, 2025

1 in 553,000

Kiel over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kiel: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kiel means

Kiel is a given name.

The naming story behind Kiel

Wikidata records Kiel as a unisex given name. The entity identifier is Q66446774, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,505 boys were recorded with the name Kiel between 1961 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 279 in 1983; its best national rank was #503 in 1983.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,842 in 2020 to #11,396 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #11,470 in 2015 to #11,396 in 2025.

In the United States, 30 girls were recorded with the name Kiel between 1983 and 1993. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1983; its best national rank was #7,641 in 1983.

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.

How common is Kiel?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 285,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#11,396
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kiel 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 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 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kiel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kiels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kiel was born before 1986 — so the typical Kiel is around 39 today.

Median birth year
1986
About 39 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
60.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
13.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,505
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 60.0% of all recorded uses (1,504).

Is Kiel 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
+329
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−4,554
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+74
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.00×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
2.2%
Peak was 1983 (279)
Years since peak
42
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
37.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#503
1983

Spellings of Kiel

Kiel is not the most common spelling — Joel is, with 22.3% against Kiel's 0.20%.

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 Kiel is used

Across 1910–2025, Kiel was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in 50,000 boys, against 1 in 116,928 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Illinois1 in 50,000
  2. 2Washington1 in 50,000
  3. 3Arizona1 in 100,000
  4. 4California1 in 100,000
  5. 5Colorado1 in 100,000
  6. 6Florida1 in 100,000
  7. 7Iowa1 in 100,000
  8. 8Idaho1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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. Kiel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kiel around the world

Where Kiel 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
    1996–2013
    #4,685
    in 2013
  • Scotland
    1986–1986
    #274
    in 1986
  • France
    2003–2003
    #4,595
    in 2003
  • Canada
    1991–2019
    #2,943
    in 2019
  • South Australia
    1983–2009
    #708
    in 2009

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Kiel

People whose public names include Kiel, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Kiel by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#11,396
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 4,554
Best rank ever
#503
1983
Peak year
1983
279 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,505
Count in 2025
6

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,641
1983
Peak year
1983
8 that year
First recorded
1983
Last recorded
1993
All-time count
30
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kiel

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

KienKierKieferNielUzielOzielKiethAdielOsielAbielKiernanAvielElielAmielKieronGadielJasielJarielYarielZurielAsielKierenHazielRaziel

Names with a curve like Kiel

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

TaureanJessicaJustineMychalAmandaTyrelJeradArsenioJaradJamaalMartellCortney

Sibling names for Kiel

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 Kiel

Top names of 1983, Kiel's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1983Boys' names starting with K