Girls' name · since 1997

Kerly

Kerly has 148 recorded births since 1997 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 2024 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.

#22,912 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#7,704 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
148
born since 1997
2020s
peak decade

148 babies have been named Kerly since 1997, making it today's #7704 girls' name.

Kerly has 148 recorded births among girls since 1997, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #7704 as of the latest data, more common than 55% of girls, busiest in the 2020s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1997 to 2025.

  • #22,912 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #7,704 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 148 born since 1997
  • 2020s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Kerly ranks #22,912 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #7,704 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 148 born since 1997, peaking in the 2020s.

#22,912 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#7,704 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
148
born since 1997
2020s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%55.4%
Kerly vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Below the archive median
All-time archive position

Kerly's 148 recorded births place it above 68.28% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

1 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

The state file records this name in 1 jurisdictions, led by New York.

How Kerly compares

148 31st percentile among 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Kerly's all-time total is 61% below the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Kerly Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 148 376 567,345
Peak-year births 17 21 19,840

Kerly's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Kerly splits its recorded history at 2014: 62% of all births land in the more recent half, 38% in the earlier half, a lean toward present-day use rather than a passing spike. The single quietest year was 1998 (5 births) -- compare that against the 2024 peak of 17 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.

Kerly popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1997–2025

Outside the top 1,000
Peak year (2024)
17
Annual births at peak, across 29 years of records
05101520 1997200220052016202120242025 14

Kerly by decade

2020s is the heaviest window (75 births, 51% of the file).

2020s was Kerly's strongest decade.

75 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 51% of all-time use.

Kerly births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 2020s at 75 births (51% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

Kerly by state

Where Kerly concentrates geographically, total births since 1997

Geographically diffuse
Top 1 states by recorded births for the name Kerly
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 New York
18 12.2%
New York share of Kerly's total US births 12.2%

18 of 148 births nationwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Kerly?
Kerly has been given to 148 babies in the U.S. since 1997, according to SSA data. Its archive ordinal is #22,912 of 72,339 among girls' names (total births, highest first). Among girls in 2025, it is #7,704 of 17,297. 17 babies were born in 2024, its single highest year.
Where does Kerly sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Kerly ranks #22,912 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #7,704 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Kerly most popular?
Kerly was most popular in the 2020s decade with 75 total births. The single peak year was 2024.
Where is Kerly most popular?
The top states for the name Kerly are New York (18 births).
How long has the name Kerly been used?
Records for Kerly go back to 1997, giving 29 years of history through 2025.
What names are similar to Kerly?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Kerry, Kerri, Keri, Kerrie, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Kerly's data

  • New York records the most Kerlys (18 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. New York names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Kerly

Nearby Names Like Kerly

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Kerly

Names with a similar popularity rank to Kerly

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Kerly: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1997–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Kerly draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.