Recorded 1948–2025 · United States
Kelby was most popular in 1991, when 277 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,340 that year. In 2025 it ranked #7,565, with 32 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 5,582 people named Kelby.
Kelby first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1948, which makes it about 77 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 73 of the 78 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 5,582 American births named Kelby between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 5,380 are estimated to be alive today.
32 American babies were named Kelby in 2025, ranking #7,565 that year.
Kelby is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 34 births a year, against 76 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -55% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Kelby is a unisex name — 28.0% of the 5,582 Americans given it were girls and 72.0% were boys. It changed hands: since 2025 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 40% girls and 60% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 5,380 Americans named Kelby are alive today — 96% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 29 years old, and half are between 21 and 36.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Kelby on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org