Kit
Kit is given to both girls and boys: 208 girls and 195 boys were given it in 2025 (#1,127 among girls’ names and #1,103 among boys’, #1,368 among all names counting both); 6,262 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Girls have outnumbered boys among babies named Kit every year since 2024.
An estimated 5,190 Americans named Kit and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 19 years old and half are between 4 and 63.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Kit by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Kit mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Kit is “a diminutive of the male given name Christopher.”
Also “a diminutive of the female given name Katherine and related female given names.”
/kɪt/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Kit?
#1,103 among boys’ names, 2025
Kit rose from #2,943 in 2015 to #1,103 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.02 to 0.11 per 1,000.
403 babies in 2025, the peak
Kit peaked in 2025, when 403 babies were given it (195 boys, #1,103 among boys’ names). In 2024 it went to 185 boys.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 208 | #1,127 | 195 | #1,103 |
| 2024 | 189 | #1,239 | 185 | #1,143 |
| 2023 | 135 | #1,573 | 182 | #1,152 |
| 2022 | 166 | #1,384 | 137 | #1,371 |
| 2021 | 105 | #1,892 | 130 | #1,416 |
| 2020 | 82 | #2,209 | 114 | #1,493 |
| 2019 | 76 | #2,366 | 101 | #1,629 |
| 2018 | 57 | #2,923 | 87 | #1,771 |
| 2017 | 49 | #3,277 | 67 | #2,079 |
| 2016 | 31 | #4,588 | 59 | #2,264 |
Every recorded year (115)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 28 | #4,923 | 40 | #2,943 |
| 2014 | 17 | #7,161 | 21 | #4,626 |
| 2013 | 13 | #8,819 | 12 | #6,841 |
| 2012 | 16 | #7,636 | 16 | #5,610 |
| 2011 | 9 | #11,703 | 13 | #6,429 |
| 2010 | 13 | #8,984 | 10 | #7,895 |
| 2009 | 12 | #9,720 | 12 | #7,047 |
| 2008 | 7 | #14,636 | 10 | #8,030 |
| 2007 | 6 | #16,601 | 8 | #9,377 |
| 2006 | under 5 | 7 | #10,174 | |
| 2005 | 8 | #12,452 | 12 | #6,445 |
| 2004 | 7 | #13,505 | 16 | #5,137 |
| 2003 | under 5 | 10 | #7,011 | |
| 2002 | 5 | #16,863 | 7 | #8,979 |
| 2001 | 5 | #16,711 | 22 | #3,789 |
| 2000 | 5 | #16,370 | 13 | #5,456 |
| 1999 | 6 | #13,570 | 9 | #6,848 |
| 1998 | under 5 | 13 | #5,045 | |
| 1997 | 6 | #12,958 | 11 | #5,487 |
| 1996 | under 5 | 18 | #3,761 | |
| 1995 | under 5 | 17 | #3,771 | |
| 1994 | under 5 | 17 | #3,832 | |
| 1993 | 7 | #11,190 | 19 | #3,438 |
| 1992 | 5 | #14,401 | 16 | #3,841 |
| 1991 | under 5 | 20 | #3,172 | |
| 1990 | 5 | #14,111 | 18 | #3,391 |
| 1989 | under 5 | 12 | #4,412 | |
| 1988 | 5 | #12,826 | 11 | #4,321 |
| 1987 | 9 | #7,684 | 31 | #1,996 |
| 1986 | under 5 | 23 | #2,394 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 25 | #2,200 | |
| 1984 | 7 | #8,628 | 33 | #1,748 |
| 1983 | 10 | #6,436 | 29 | #1,883 |
| 1982 | 11 | #6,132 | 34 | #1,718 |
| 1981 | 9 | #7,074 | 35 | #1,681 |
| 1980 | 15 | #4,846 | 27 | #2,030 |
| 1979 | 11 | #5,941 | 27 | #1,972 |
| 1978 | 5 | #10,541 | 36 | #1,586 |
| 1977 | 11 | #5,684 | 27 | #1,880 |
| 1976 | 8 | #6,927 | 26 | #1,906 |
| 1975 | 5 | #9,777 | 29 | #1,731 |
| 1974 | 10 | #5,545 | 36 | #1,459 |
| 1973 | 15 | #4,060 | 26 | #1,756 |
| 1972 | 11 | #4,937 | 41 | #1,319 |
| 1971 | 15 | #4,033 | 46 | #1,227 |
| 1970 | 13 | #4,367 | 24 | #1,823 |
| 1969 | 9 | #5,241 | 36 | #1,337 |
| 1968 | 10 | #4,625 | 31 | #1,412 |
| 1967 | 14 | #3,554 | 38 | #1,223 |
| 1966 | 15 | #3,324 | 29 | #1,440 |
| 1965 | 15 | #3,333 | 42 | #1,178 |
| 1964 | 26 | #2,441 | 37 | #1,297 |
| 1963 | 35 | #1,995 | 42 | #1,205 |
| 1962 | 33 | #2,049 | 29 | #1,465 |
| 1961 | 34 | #2,016 | 47 | #1,152 |
| 1960 | 38 | #1,841 | 39 | #1,259 |
| 1959 | 37 | #1,835 | 59 | #1,006 |
| 1958 | 44 | #1,614 | 68 | #921 |
| 1957 | 60 | #1,369 | 77 | #856 |
| 1956 | 50 | #1,510 | 79 | #841 |
| 1955 | 46 | #1,502 | 86 | #786 |
| 1954 | 39 | #1,637 | 74 | #847 |
| 1953 | 27 | #1,987 | 74 | #837 |
| 1952 | 35 | #1,663 | 74 | #817 |
| 1951 | 35 | #1,626 | 68 | #848 |
| 1950 | 28 | #1,815 | 67 | #830 |
| 1949 | 21 | #2,178 | 42 | #1,088 |
| 1948 | 25 | #1,917 | 51 | #980 |
| 1947 | 32 | #1,707 | 52 | #989 |
| 1946 | 24 | #1,887 | 56 | #883 |
| 1945 | 27 | #1,607 | 28 | #1,256 |
| 1944 | 25 | #1,679 | 56 | #849 |
| 1943 | 14 | #2,494 | 44 | #1,012 |
| 1942 | 12 | #2,736 | 31 | #1,263 |
| 1941 | 9 | #3,128 | 36 | #1,098 |
| 1940 | 10 | #2,858 | 20 | #1,547 |
| 1939 | under 5 | 13 | #2,010 | |
| 1938 | 8 | #3,311 | under 5 | |
| 1937 | 6 | #4,042 | 9 | #2,587 |
| 1936 | under 5 | 6 | #3,363 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 10 | #2,463 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 6 | #3,493 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 5 | #3,929 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 6 | #3,592 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 7 | #3,446 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 7 | #3,403 | |
| 1928 | 8 | #3,601 | 6 | #3,938 |
| 1927 | 6 | #4,560 | 10 | #2,814 |
| 1926 | 6 | #4,575 | 10 | #2,813 |
| 1925 | 5 | #5,399 | 5 | #4,587 |
| 1924 | under 5 | 6 | #4,121 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 11 | #2,719 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 16 | #2,108 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 8 | #3,361 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 5 | #4,497 | |
| 1918 | under 5 | 6 | #3,948 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 11 | #2,495 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 7 | #3,353 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 8 | #2,954 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 6 | #3,093 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 5 | #1,586 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 5 | #1,166 | |
| 1890 | under 5 | 8 | #786 | |
| 1889 | under 5 | 5 | #1,040 | |
| 1880 | under 5 | 5 | #996 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Kit a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 6,262 Americans recorded as Kit, 37% are girls and 63% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Kit: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Kit, and how old are they?
5,190 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 6,262 Americans ever recorded as Kit. The median Kit alive today is 19 years old; half are between 4 and 63.
The 2020 Census counted 5,404 people named Kit (2,522 women and girls, 2,882 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,670 born in the U.S. The Census count is 47% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 144 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,260 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 627 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 405 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 290 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,470 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Kit born?
The states with the most babies named Kit are Texas, California and Utah, with 32% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Utah is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 33 | #1,327 | 0.3× |
| California | 28 | #1,479 | 1.0× |
| Utah | 28 | #426 | 2.3× |
| Illinois | 21 | #734 | 0.2× |
| Indiana | 18 | #743 | 0.2× |
| Tennessee | 13 | #892 | 0.3× |
| Massachusetts | 13 | #850 | 0.1× |
| Washington | 12 | #852 | 0.5× |
| North Carolina | 12 | #1,383 | 0.3× |
| Ohio | 11 | not ranked | 0.3× |
Where Kit is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Kit is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 2.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Kit with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 6,605 babies since 1880, Kit is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 403 of their 403 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
More about Kit and names like it
- Compare Kit and KietBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sKit peaked in 2025.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Kit since 1910.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Kit.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Kit alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with KMost given first.