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Kip

#1,626 in 2025Boys' name

Possibly male salmon

Kip has been given to 8,722 babies in the U.S. since 1935. In 2025 it ranked #1,626 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1965, with 419 recorded.

Babies named Kip, 2025

1 in 31,900

Kip over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kip: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly male salmon

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kip means

Kip may mean “male salmon”.

Origin, language, and formation

Kip is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Kipling.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,568 boys were recorded with the name Kip between 1935 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 419 in 1965; its best national rank was #379 in 1965.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,794 in 2020 to #1,626 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,664 in 2015 to #1,626 in 2025.

In the United States, 154 girls were recorded with the name Kip between 1947 and 1980. Its highest annual count was 17 in 1956; its best national rank was #2,875 in 1956.

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 Kip?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 31,900
104 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 16,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,626
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
22,096 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kip 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 22,096 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kip. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kips were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kip was born before 1969 — so the typical Kip is around 56 today.

Median birth year
1969
About 56 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
30.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
16.7%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
8,166
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 30.8% of all recorded uses (2,639).

Is Kip 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
−163
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+168
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,038
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.26×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
24.8%
Peak was 1965 (419)
Years since peak
60
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#379
1965

Where Kip is used

Across 2016–2025, Kip was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 5,882 boys, against 1 in 30,379 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).

117 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 5,882
  2. 2North Dakota1 in 5,882
  3. 3Wisconsin1 in 10,000
  4. 4Ohio1 in 11,111
  5. 5Iowa1 in 12,500
  6. 6Indiana1 in 14,286
  7. 7Kentucky1 in 16,667
  8. 8Nebraska1 in 16,667

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.

Kip around the world

Where Kip 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
    2001–2025
    #4,275
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2005–2024
    #1,105
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1946–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Kip

People whose public names include Kip, 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.

Kip in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Kip. Linked forms have their own page here.

KitKippSkipKyp

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Kip by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,626
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 168
Best rank ever
#379
1965
Peak year
1965
419 that year
First recorded
1935
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,568
Count in 2025
104

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,875
1956
Peak year
1956
17 that year
First recorded
1947
Last recorded
1980
All-time count
154
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kip

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

KippSkipKiptonKiptynKiplingKipperKippyKiptenKipleyKiptinKippieKiplinKipchoge

Names with a curve like Kip

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

DinoDirkRichieStevieRitchieRobCurtScotRobbyRussVinceBart

Sibling names for Kip

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 Kip

Top names of 1965, Kip's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1965Boys' names starting with K