Girl names that start with K cover a lot of ground, from Katherine and Kathleen, which have been in the U.S. birth records since 1880, to Kaylani and Katalina, which are having their best years right now.
Kennedy leads the letter for American girls at #85 in 2025, with Kai and Kinsley tied just behind at #93, and those three are the only K names inside the girls’ top 100 (1). Plenty of the names below sit nowhere near it, and eighteen of them are too rare for the federal data to list at all, since a name needs at least five births in a year before it is published (2).
Every entry carries its origin, meaning, pronunciation and where it stands in the latest U.S. numbers, so you can weigh a K name everyone knows against one your daughter will never have to share.
Popularity at a Glance
The most popular names on this list in the United States, 1965 to 2025: Kennedy, Kai, Kinsley, Kayden and Kaylani.
- Kennedy
- Kai
- Kinsley
- Kayden
- Kaylani
100 Popular Female Names That Start with K
These girl names that start with K rock almost as much as the girls who use them.
Kacey
Kacey grew out of the Gaelic surname Ó’Cathasaigh, borne by the descendants of a man called Cathasach. The root cathasaigh means watchful, so alertness sits quietly under the friendliness. Spelling is where families make it their own, and Kacee, Kaci, Kacie and Kacy all get used. It suits a toddler and a grown woman equally well, which is more than most nickname-style names manage.
- Origin: Gaelic, Irish
- Meaning: Vigilant
- Pronunciation: KEY-Siy
- Variations: Kacee, Kaci, Kacie, Kacy, Kacye
- Namesakes: Kacey Ainsworth, an English actress known for the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Kacey Bellamy, an American ice hockey player and seven-time IIHF World Women’s Championship winner.
- Popularity: Kacey ranked #1,118 for U.S. girls in 2025, well down from its 1991 high of #577. It has appeared in the national data since 1952.
Kadisha
Kadisha comes from the Arabic Kadijah and carries the Hebrew sense of holy. The Kadisha Valley in Lebanon shares the name, which gives it a rooted, geographic weight that few rare names have. Mohammed’s first wife was known by the same name. Three syllables give it room to breathe, and Kadi shortens it for everyday use.
- Origin: Arabic, Hebrew
- Meaning: Early baby
- Pronunciation: Kah-DIH-shah
- Variations: Kadysha, Kadeesha, Kadesha
- Namesakes: Kadisha Onalbayeva, a Kazakh pianist and Kazakhstan’s first Steinway Artist in 2013.
- Popularity: Kadisha last appeared in the U.S. births data in 2017, at #17,068, and has not charted since. Its strongest showing was #2,861 in 1994.
Kaede
Kaede is the Japanese word for the maple tree, and its meanings include beautiful and lovely; anime fans meet it often, since writers reach for it when they want a name that sounds gentle and seasonal at once. The three-beat pronunciation trips up English speakers at first, though it settles fast.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: Maple tree
- Pronunciation: Kaey-EH-deh
- Variations: Kaide, Kayde
- Namesakes: Kaede Dobashi, a Japanese dancer and member of the J-Pop group Happiness. Kaede Nakamuraa, a Japanese footballer for the Japanese national team.
- Popularity: Kaede sits at #16,014 for U.S. girls in 2025 and has charted here since 1997, never rising past #7,138 in 2014. It is the rarest of the names the federal data still ranks.
Kaelyn
Kaelyn is one of the many American spins on Kaylin, built from Kae, meaning rejoicer, and Lynn, meaning waterfall. The Irish Cailín, meaning pure, hovers behind it too. It belongs to the wave of Kay- and -lyn blends that swept U.S. nurseries in the 2000s, so it will read as of-its-moment to anyone who was in school then. Kae and Lyn both work as short forms.
- Origin: English, Irish
- Meaning: Keeper of the keys
- Pronunciation: KEY-Lihn
- Variations: Kaelan, Kaelinn, Kaelinne, Kaelyna, Kaelynn
- Popularity: Kaelyn ranked #1,601 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from its 2009 peak of #332. It has been in the data since 1959.
Kahina
Kahina rests on the Arabic al-Kahinah, the fortuneteller or diviner. The 7th-century Berber queen Dihya carried it as a title, which gives the name a warrior-mystic edge that its soft sound does not advertise. DC Comics borrowed it for a psychic on Aquaman’s team. For a family drawn to North African history, it is a strong and largely unused choice.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: The diviner
- Pronunciation: Kaa-HHIY-nah
- Popularity: Kahina stays below the five-birth line the SSA uses before it publishes a name, so it has no U.S. ranking.
Kahlia
Kahlia began as the Hawaiian Kaliʻa, made of ka, meaning the, and liʻa, meaning desire. Australians took to it well before American parents did. The spelling with the h softens it a little. It also keeps it from being read as Kayla.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: Keeper of the keys
- Pronunciation: KAA-liy-Ah
- Variations: Kalia
- Namesakes: Kahlia Hogg, an Australian footballer for Adelaide United. Kahlia Greksa, an Australian actress known for The Great Gatsby (2013).
- Popularity: Kahlia ranked #3,318 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best year being 2020 at #2,584. It has charted quietly since 1976.
Kai
Kai carries the Hawaiian meaning of sea and the Persian meaning of king, and Japanese gives it shell. It also works as a short form of the Frisian Kaimbe, meaning warrior. Three letters and one syllable give it no obvious gender lean, and it sits inside the girls’ top 100 right alongside Kennedy and Kinsley.
- Origin: Hawaiian, Persian
- Meaning: Sea
- Pronunciation: KAEY
- Variations: Kae, Kaie, Kye
- Namesakes: Alessia De Gasperis (once known as Kai), a Canadian singer-songwriter who co-wrote Flume’s “Never Be like You.”
- Popularity: Kai ranked #93 for U.S. girls in 2025, tied with Kinsley for a spot in the top 100, and it peaked at #59 in 2022. It has charted since 1926.
Kaiden
Kaiden is the K spelling of Kaden, a name read as warrior and as from the wetlands, and it arrived with the great wave of -aden names, sticking around after most of them faded. Boys still claim it more often, so a girl called Kaiden gets a name people know how to say without meeting many others who share it.
- Origin: Arabic, Celtic
- Meaning: Beloved companion
- Pronunciation: KAEY-Dihn
- Variations: Kaden, Caden
- Popularity: Kaiden ranked #237 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #122 in 2013. It first charted in 1992.
Kalani
Kalani is Hawaiian for heavenly and royal, with a secondary sense of chief. It gathers up sea and sky in one word, which is part of why it travels so well outside Hawaii. Parents who want Hawaiian names with some spine tend to land here. Lani makes an easy nickname.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: Of the heavens
- Pronunciation: Kaa-LAA-niy
- Variations: Kalanee, Kalaney, Kalanie, Kalany
- Namesakes: Kalani Hilliker, an American dancer appearing on Dance Moms from 2014 to 2017. Kalani Brown, an American basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA.
- Popularity: Kalani ranked #387 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its 2021 best of #339. It has charted since 1963.
Kali
Kali comes from the Sanskrit kala, meaning both time and black. In Hinduism, Kali is the goddess of time, death and change, and mother of everything that lives, so the name carries real theological freight. It also turns up as a variation of the Finnish boy’s name Kalle. Short, blunt and easy to spell, it has none of the frills that date a name.
- Origin: Indian, Sanskrit
- Meaning: The black one
- Pronunciation: KAA-Liy
- Variations: Kalli, Kalie
- Namesakes: Kali Rocha, an American actress appearing in the Disney series Liv and Maddie. Kali Christ, a Canadian speed skater who competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
- Popularity: Kali ranked #323 for U.S. girls in 2025 and reached #242 in 2019. It has appeared in the data since 1957.
Kaliyah
Kaliyah rides the same sound wave that carried Aaliyah through the 1990s. It has never done better in the United States than it is doing now. The Arabic sense is beloved. Four syllables give it a lilt that shorter K names cannot match, and Kali or Lia trims it down when you need something quicker.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Beloved
- Pronunciation: Kaa-LIY-yaa
- Variations: Kalea, Kaleela
- Popularity: Kaliyah ranked #392 for U.S. girls in 2025, which is its best year on record since it first charted in 1994.
Kalliope
Kalliope joins the Greek kalós, meaning beautiful, to óps, meaning voice, and Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, with the K spelling pulling that mythical name into the present without losing the reference. It is a lot of name for a small person, which is the appeal.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Beautiful voice
- Pronunciation: Kaa-LIY-ow-Peh
- Variations: Calliope, Kalliopi
- Namesakes: Kalliope Amorphous, an American artist included in GLAAD’s annual Top 100 Artists in 2011.
- Popularity: Kalliope ranked #1,787 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best showing since it first charted in 1922.
Kallistrat
Kallistrat pairs the Greek kallos, meaning beauty, with stratos, meaning army. Greece and Russia know it mainly as a man’s name. It stays rare for anyone. Choosing it for a daughter is a deliberate act, not a trend-following one.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Beautiful army
- Pronunciation: Kal-ehs-STRAT
- Variations: Kallistrate
- Popularity: Kallistrat has never reached the five births a year the SSA requires before it lists a name, so no U.S. ranking exists for it.
Kamala
Kamala is the lotus flower, and in Hindu tradition it also reads as pale red. It is one of the many names of the goddess Lakshmi. Anyone who follows American politics will hear former Vice President Kamala Harris in it first. That has made the pronunciation far more familiar than the ranking suggests.
- Origin: Hindu
- Meaning: Lotus flower
- Pronunciation: KAA-Maa-laa
- Variations: Kamalah, Kamalla, Kammala
- Namesakes: Kamala Harris, the 49th Vice President of the U.S. Kamala Laxman, an Indian children’s book author of The Thama Stories.
- Popularity: Kamala ranked #9,767 for U.S. girls in 2025. Its strongest year was 1964 at #1,063, and it has charted since 1955.
Kamalani
Kamalani joins the Hawaiian kama, meaning child, to lani, meaning sky, and together they read as the child of heaven, or the great gift from heaven. Five syllables ask something of a teacher on the first day of school, but Kama and Lani both shorten it kindly.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: Royal child
- Pronunciation: Kaa-maa-LAA-niy
- Variations: Kamalini
- Namesakes: Kamalani Dung, an American softball player on the Puerto Rican national softball team.
- Popularity: Kamalani ranked #10,489 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #5,396 in 1996. It first charted in 1994.
Kamilia
Kamilia is an uncommon dressing of the Latin Camilla. The word once described the young attendant who helped a priest through Roman religious ceremonies. It belonged to the family name Camillus. The spelling with the K softens the classical edge and gives it a Slavic tilt.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Ceremonial attendant
- Pronunciation: Kaa-MIH-liy-Ah
- Variations: Kameela, Kamela
- Namesakes: Kamila Aliyeva, an Azerbaijani politician in the Parliament of Azerbaijan since 2010. Kamilia Shehata, an Egyptian schoolteacher who disappeared in 2010, connected to the conflict between Egypt’s Muslim majority and Coptic Christian minority.
- Popularity: Kamilia ranked #14,027 for U.S. girls in 2025, with its best year in 2020 at #5,970. It has charted since 1982.
Kanako
Kanako is built from three Japanese elements: ka, meaning increase, na, meaning vegetables, and ko, meaning child. Anime has kept it visible to Western audiences long after it stopped being a nursery favorite in Japan. It has a bright, clipped rhythm that English speakers manage on the first try, which is not true of every Japanese name on this list. Kana is the natural short form.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: Beautiful, good
- Pronunciation: Kaa-NAH-kow
- Variations: Kaneko
- Namesakes: Kanako Mitsuhashi, a Japanese voice actress known for Hunter × Hunter. Kanako Tanikawa, a Japanese cyclist who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Kanako last charted in the U.S. data in 2005, at #17,794, after peaking at #9,088 in 1993. It first appeared in 1984.
Kandake
Kandake means white and sincere, and it is the Greek form behind Candace, used in the New Testament for an African queen, which is the whole draw of its royal association. It sounds nothing like the Candace most people know, which is either the point or the problem.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: KAEN-Dahk
- Popularity: Kandake falls below the SSA’s five-birth publication line, so the federal data carries no ranking for it.
Kapardini
Kapardini has one of the stranger meanings in this collection. It describes someone whose hair is coiled like a cowrie shell, which is to say matted. It also links to the boy’s name Kapardi. It is also read simply as goddess, and no one is going to argue you out of that reading for your daughter.
- Origin: Indian
- Meaning: Goddess
- Pronunciation: Kae-paar-DIHN-ee
- Variations: Kapardin
- Popularity: Kapardini does not appear in the U.S. births data, since the SSA publishes a name only once it reaches five births in a year.
Kara
Kara is the K-spelled cousin of the Italian Cara, a plain term of endearment meaning dear and beloved, while Irish gives Cara the sense of friend and Vietnamese gives it diamond, so the same four letters collect affection from three directions. It peaked with the girls born in the mid-1980s and now reads pleasantly unfashionable, which is usually the last stop before a comeback.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: Dear
- Pronunciation: KAAR-ah
- Variations: Cara
- Namesakes: Kara Eaker, an American artistic gymnast and the 2019 Pan American Games champion. Kara Swisher, an American journalist and contributing editor at New York Magazine.
- Popularity: Kara ranked #1,075 for U.S. girls in 2025, far below its 1984 peak of #95. It has charted since 1896, longer than most names here.
Karabi
Karabi is a flower name in Hindi and stays closely tied to India in use. It also means proximate angel. It blooms well as your little one’s flower name. Most people outside India will need it said once before it sticks.
- Origin: Hindi
- Meaning: Flower
- Pronunciation: Kaa-RAH-biy
- Namesakes: Karabi Deka Hazarika, an Indian writer voted “Best Women Writer” by the All Assam Women Writers Association in 2007.
- Popularity: Karabi is not listed in the U.S. births data, which publishes only names reaching five births in a year.
Kareemah
Kareemah grows from the Arabic K-R-M root and appears in the Quran with the sense of noble and generous, and spelled Karima, it also names a Kenyan mountain known for its gentle slopes. The double-e spelling tells an English reader exactly where the stress falls, which is a practical kindness.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Honorable
- Pronunciation: Keh-RIY-maa
- Variations: Karima
- Popularity: Kareemah ranked #14,036 for U.S. girls in 2025 and did best in 1980 at #3,767. It has charted since 1975.
Karen
Karen is a Danish variation of Katharine, itself from the Greek Aikaterine. Armenia uses it for boys. In the United States it belonged squarely to the girls of the 1950s and 1960s, and its recent turn as internet shorthand has kept it in conversation for reasons no parent asked for. The name itself is clean, short and easy, and the joke will not outlive the decade.
- Origin: Greek, Danish
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: KAER-ahn
- Variations: Karan, Karren, Karrin, Karyn
- Namesakes: Karen Carpenter, an American singer in the duo the Carpenters. Karen Morrison-Comstock, an American beauty queen and Miss USA 1974.
- Popularity: Karen ranked #1,281 for U.S. girls in 2025. It reached #3 in 1965 and has been in the national data since 1881.
Karina
Karina reads as pretty, and through the Latin carus it also carries dear and precious. It doubles as a pet form for Katarina and Katherine. It can be the whole name or the short one. The stress lands in the middle, which gives it a warmth that Karin lacks.
- Origin: Greek, Scandinavian
- Meaning: Pure, chaste
- Pronunciation: Kah-RIY-nah
- Variations: Kaarina, Kareena, Karinah, Karrina, Karyna
- Namesakes: Karina Smirnoff, a Soviet-Ukrainian ballroom dancer on Dancing with the Stars. Karina Sumner-Smith, a Canadian fantasy author and finalist for the 2006 Nebula Award.
- Popularity: Karina ranked #750 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from its 1996 peak of #108. It has charted since 1956.
Karissa
Karissa comes from the Greek charis, meaning grace, and by extension beloved, a sense the poet Edmund Spenser gave lasting literary life in The Faerie Queene. It has the same shape as Melissa and Marissa, so it slots into a generation of names without being one of the ones everybody used.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Dear
- Pronunciation: Kaa-RIHS-aa
- Variations: Karesa, Karessa, Karisa, Karyssa
- Namesakes: Karissa Whitsell, an American blind cyclist and gold medalist at the 2004 ΧΙΙ Paralympic Games. Karissa Lee Staples, an American actress appearing in the series Necessary Roughness.
- Popularity: Karissa ranked #2,915 for U.S. girls in 2025, well off its 1991 high of #306. It has charted since 1961.
Karla
Karla is the feminine form of the German Karl, so the free man becomes the free woman. Latin lends it the sense of strong one. It also works as a 5 letter nickname for Carolina. Spanish-speaking families have carried it steadily for a century, which is why it never feels tied to one decade.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Free man
- Pronunciation: KAAR-Laa
- Variations: Carla
- Namesakes: Karla Klarić, a Croatian volleyball player for the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa. Karla Martínez, a Mexican TV hostess of Control from 2000 to 2006.
- Popularity: Karla ranked #803 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #175 in 2002. It has charted since 1915.
Karlee
Karlee is another descendant of the German Karl, turned soft and feminine on the way, and Scandinavian usage gives it the sense of womanly strength. It is the less-trodden path to the same sound as Carly, and the double e keeps it from being mistaken for a nickname.
- Origin: German, American
- Meaning: Free man
- Pronunciation: KAAR-Liy
- Variations: Karley, Karli, Karlie, Karly, Karlye
- Namesakes: Karlee Macer, an American member of the Indiana House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020. Karlee Bispo, an American swimmer and gold medalist at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships.
- Popularity: Karlee ranked #1,898 for U.S. girls in 2025 after peaking at #583 in 2004. It has charted since 1956.
Karma
Karma is action and its consequence, the word Hinduism uses for the way our choices follow us across lifetimes. English has flattened it to something close to fate. Naming a daughter Karma is a small dare. It lands better than it should because the sound is so plain and pleasant.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: Destiny
- Pronunciation: KAAR-Maa
- Variations: Karmah, Kharma
- Namesakes: Karma-Ann Swanepoel, a South African singer and member of the band Henry Ate.
- Popularity: Karma ranked #1,706 for U.S. girls in 2025, with its best year in 2009 at #761. It has charted since 1915.
Karmen
Karmen goes back to the Greek Karmē, she who cuts the grain, and stands as a spelling of the Spanish Carmen, the fruitful orchard, with Mount Carmel as the place name behind much of that history. The K makes it look Slovenian rather than Spanish, which suits a family wanting Carmen without the opera.
- Origin: Greek, Spanish
- Meaning: Garden
- Pronunciation: KAAR-Mehn
- Variations: Karman, Carmen
- Namesakes: Karmen Mar, a Slovenian chess player and FIDE female International Master. Karmen Pedaru, an Estonian model who worked with Michael Kors.
- Popularity: Karmen ranked #1,875 for U.S. girls in 2025 and reached #1,063 in 2008. It has charted since 1935.
Karolina
Karolina is the formal feminine of Karl, drawn from the German kerle and the older heri, both circling the idea of an army. It is a Polish and Czech staple. It has aged into something quietly grand in English. Lina and Kara both fall out of it naturally, so the length is less of a commitment than it looks.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: Warrior
- Pronunciation: Kaa-Row-LIY-naa
- Variations: Carolina, Karolyna
- Namesakes: Karolína Kosinová, a Czech ice hockey player for the Czech national team. Karolina Kaczorowska, the first lady of Poland (in exile) from 1989 to 1990.
- Popularity: Karolina ranked #1,267 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best year having come as recently as 2024 at #1,256. It has charted since 1917.
Kasia
Kasia ties to the cassia tree in Hebrew and reads as the acacia tree in Greek, and cassia bark is where cinnamon comes from, which gives the name a warm, kitchen-shelf association. Kasia is also a Polish form of Katherine, and in Poland it is the everyday nickname rather than the formal name.
- Origin: Polish, Hebrew
- Meaning: Cassia tree
- Pronunciation: KAES-iy-Ah
- Variations: Kazia
- Namesakes: Kasia Stankiewicz, a Polish singer who recorded with the German group Tangerine Dream. Kasia Kulesza, a Polish-Canadian synchronized swimmer, and silver medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Kasia ranked #5,481 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #2,296 in 2002. It has charted since 1958.
Kassandra
Kassandra reads as the unheeded prophetess. In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the Trojan priestess given true visions and cursed so that no one would believe her, which is one of the sadder gifts in the canon. The K spelling belonged to the early 1990s and has been resting ever since. Kass and Sandy are both waiting in it.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Defender, warrior
- Pronunciation: Kah-SAEN-Drah
- Variations: Cassandra
- Namesakes: Kasandra Bradette, a Canadian speed skater and silver medalist at the 2016 World Short Track Speed Skating Champion.
- Popularity: Kassandra ranked #1,177 for U.S. girls in 2025. Its best year was 1993 at #120, and it has charted since 1945.
Kassidy
Kassidy carries the Gaelic Caiside behind it, which describes someone curly-headed, and the surname sense of clever. Swapping the C for a K turns a family name into a modern American girl’s name. It has a bounce that suits a kid. It does not embarrass an adult.
- Origin: Gaelic, English
- Meaning: Clever
- Pronunciation: KASS-ah-Dee
- Variations: Cassidy, Kassidee
- Namesakes: Kassidy Leigh Cook, an American diver on the U.S. national diving team in 2012. Kassidy Osborn, an American actress appearing in the Rock & Roll Back to School Special (2001).
- Popularity: Kassidy ranked #1,039 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from its 2000 peak of #314. It has charted since 1975.
Kassiopeia
In Greek mythology, Kassiopeia was the wife of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and the mother of Andromeda, and her vanity is what got her daughter chained to a rock. Most people meet the name in the night sky instead, in the W-shaped constellation, five syllables of pure spectacle.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: She whose words excel
- Pronunciation: Kaes-iy-Ow-PIY-ah
- Variations: Cassiopeia
- Popularity: Kassiopeia falls under the SSA’s five-birth publication line, so no U.S. ranking exists for it.
Katalina
Katalina is a very feminine reading of Katherine, meaning pure in Greek, with a secondary sense of each of the two from hekáteros. Spelled Catalina it names the island off the coast of Los Angeles. It is doing better in the United States right now than at any point in its history. The Spanish-language ear it was built for explains a lot of that.
- Origin: Greek, Spanish
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: Kaa-taa-LIY-Naa
- Variations: Katalin, Catalina
- Namesakes: Kara Wethington (known as Katalina), an American singer known for her single “D.J. Girl” (1996).
- Popularity: Katalina ranked #430 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best year yet, and it has charted since 1971.
Katarina
Katarina comes from the Greek katharos, meaning pure, and it is the form Eastern Europe reached for while Russia used Ekaterina; it remains a Croatian standard to this day. It gives a family three good nicknames without trying: Kat, Kata and Rina.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: Kaa-teh-RIY-naa
- Variations: Kateryna, Katarin, Katarine
- Namesakes: Katarina Witt, a German figure skater, and two-time Olympic champion. Katarina Ewerlöf, a Swedish actress known for the series Pappas flicka (1997).
- Popularity: Katarina ranked #1,788 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #477 in 1994. It has charted since 1958.
Katayoun
In Persian mythology, Katāyoun is the wife of Goshtasb and the mother of Esfandiar. That places her at the heart of the old epic material. Georgian families use it as a form of Katherine. It is a Katherine that nobody will guess is a Katherine.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Queen of the world
- Pronunciation: Cat-ah-Yoon
- Namesakes: Katayoun Riahi, an Iranian actress and winner of three Hafez Awards.
- Popularity: Katayoun does not appear in the U.S. births data, which lists a name only once it reaches five births in a year.
Katherine
Katherine descends from the Greek Aikaterine, sometimes traced to Hekateros, meaning each of the two, though the stronger line runs through katharos, meaning pure. It still sits inside the top 200 for U.S. girls, at #186 in 2025. It has charted every year since the national data begins in 1880. Every spelling and every nickname is already familiar, from Kate to Katie to Kit, so a daughter can choose her own register as she grows.
- Origin: English, Greek
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: KATH-Rihn
- Variations: Katheryn, Katharyn, Kathryne, Katherin
- Namesakes: Katherine Schwarzenegger, an American author and the oldest child of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Katherine Ryan, a Canadian comedian appearing on the panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
- Popularity: Katherine ranked #186 for U.S. girls in 2025 and reached #25 in 1991. It has charted every year since the data begins in 1880.
Kathleen
Kathleen is the Irish form of Katherine, most likely by way of the Gaelic Caitlín, and William Butler Yeats gave it a lasting literary home in his play about Countess Cathleen. It was a top ten American name for the mothers and grandmothers of today’s parents and has been quietly resting ever since.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: Kath-LIIYN
- Variations: Cathleen, Kataleen, Kathileen
- Namesakes: Kathleen Kennedy, an American film producer and president of Lucasfilm. Kathleen Hochul, the 57th governor of New York since 2021.
- Popularity: Kathleen ranked #1,156 for U.S. girls in 2025. It reached #9 in 1949 and has charted since 1880.
Katica
Katica is the Croatian and Slovene diminutive of Katherine, the equivalent of calling a girl little Kathy. Croatian families give it as a full name rather than a pet form. Outside the Balkans it will need spelling out every time. It is charming enough that plenty of parents would take that trade.
- Origin: Croatian
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: KAH-titz-Ah
- Variations: Katika
- Namesakes: Katica Illényi, a Hungarian violinist and winner of Hungary’s Outstanding Artist Award in 2020.
- Popularity: Katica has not reached the SSA’s five-birth publication threshold, so the U.S. data carries no ranking for it.
Katiuska
Katiuska is a Finnish form of Katherine with the sense of holy, and it also works as a diminutive of the Russian Ekaterina, the Russian version of the same name. The middle of the name does the work, with Katy or Kat handling the everyday.
- Origin: Finnish
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: Kah-tee-UWS-skah
- Variations: Katyuska, Katuska
- Popularity: Katiuska last appeared in the U.S. data in 1999, at #9,891, and has not charted since. It first showed up in 1980.
Katniss
Katniss is an edible aquatic plant, though almost nobody meets it that way. It belongs to Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games, and it entered the U.S. data the year the first film arrived, which is about as clean a case of fiction making a name as you will find. It is a bold pick, and one that will always be dated to a decade.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Aquatic plant
- Pronunciation: KAT-nis
- Popularity: Katniss ranked #12,531 for U.S. girls in 2025. It first charted in 2012 and peaked at #3,960 in 2014.
Katriana
Katriana is one of the more unusual routes to Katherine, sharing the Greek katharos and its meaning of pure. It reads as Katrina with an extra beat. That is enough to keep it from feeling like a hurricane name. Kat, Kata and Ana are all inside it.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: Kaat-riy-AEN-Ah
- Variations: Katrina
- Popularity: Katriana last charted in the U.S. data in 2021, at #16,451, after peaking at #4,865 in 1998. It first appeared in 1989.
Katy
Katy is the short, sunny end of Katherine, built on katharos, meaning clean and clear, and plenty of families give it as the full legal name now rather than the nickname. It is friendly, dated to nothing in particular, and impossible to mispronounce.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: KAY-tiy
- Variations: Katey, Katie
- Namesakes: Katy Rose, an American singer-songwriter known for “Overdrive,” featured in “Mean Girls.” Katy Spychakov, an Israeli windsurfer and winner of the 2019 U21 Women’s RS:X World Championships.
- Popularity: Katy ranked #2,709 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from its 1987 peak of #351. It has charted since 1880.
Kaur
If you want a K name for a girl that owes nothing to Katherine, Kaur is it. Sikh women carry it as a shared surname, and it reads as princess and as lioness. It also means spiritual princess, while Estonia uses it as a man’s name. One syllable, no decoration, and a great deal of history behind it.
- Origin: Indian, Sikh
- Meaning: Princess
- Pronunciation: KAOR
- Variations: Kore
- Popularity: Kaur is not listed in the U.S. births data, which publishes a name only at five births or more in a year.
Kay
Kay works as a short form of Katherine and as a name in its own right, and it reads as old-fashioned to most American ears now. Arthurian legend gives it a second life: Sir Kay was a knight of King Arthur and the keeper of the keys. It was a genuine top 100 name in the 1940s. That is why it sounds like a grandmother and, on the usual hundred-year cycle, is about due.
- Origin: Greek, English
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: KAEY
- Variations: Kaiy, Kaye
- Namesakes: Kay Hull, an Australian member of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2010. Kay Burley, an English presenter on Sky News.
- Popularity: Kay ranked #3,946 for U.S. girls in 2025. It reached #70 in 1941 and has charted since 1885.
Kayden
Kayden reads as round and gentle in Old English and as battle-ready in Gaelic, a pairing that covers most moods, and it may rest on the Welsh surname Cadell, the spirit of battle. Boys still take it more often, but it sits inside the top 150 for American girls and is far more established for them than most parents assume.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Strength
- Pronunciation: KEY-Dehn
- Variations: Caden, Kadyn
- Popularity: Kayden ranked #135 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #90 in 2014. It first charted in 1989.
Kaylani
Kaylani joins the Hawaiian kai, meaning sea, to lani, meaning heavenly, so the whole reads as the sea of heaven. It has never been more used in the United States than it is right now. The rhythm carries it, four syllables that fall without effort. Lani waits inside for a shorter day.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: Royal sea
- Pronunciation: Key-LAH-niy
- Variations: Kailani, Kaylaney, Kaylanie, Kaylany
- Popularity: Kaylani ranked #185 for U.S. girls in 2025, the best year it has had since first charting in 1987.
Kaylee
Kaylee blends Kay and Lee and gets read as laurel, though it also stands as a form of Katherine and its meaning of pure. It was one of the defining American girls’ names of the late 2000s and still sits comfortably inside the top 300, and Hong Kong families use it widely too.
- Origin: English, Greek
- Meaning: Crown
- Pronunciation: KAEY-liy
- Variations: Kaley, Kayleigh, Kayley
- Namesakes: Kaylee Dakers, a Canadian swimmer with the Cobra Swim Club. Kaylee Hartung, an American broadcaster for CBS News.
- Popularity: Kaylee ranked #255 for U.S. girls in 2025 after peaking at #26 in 2009. It has charted since 1943.
Keala
Keala is Hawaiian for the path, and it also appears as Ke’ala. It works as a unisex name. It has never been common on the mainland. Two clean vowels at the end make it easy to say and hard to shorten, so it tends to be used in full.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: The path
- Pronunciation: Keh-AH-la
- Variations: Ke’ala
- Namesakes: Keala Kennelly, a Hawaiian surfer and the 2003 Triple Crown Winner. Keala Settle, an American singer whose song “This Is Me” won the 2017 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
- Popularity: Keala ranked #9,161 for U.S. girls in 2025, with its best year in 2005 at #3,146. It has charted since 1969.
Keeva
Keeva is the phonetic road into the Irish Caoimhe, which means gentle and precious. Ulster spells it this way so that the rest of the English-speaking world has a chance. It also connects to the Hebrew Akiva, meaning to protect. You get an Irish name nobody butchers, which is worth a great deal at a doctor’s office.
- Origin: Irish, Hebrew
- Meaning: Beautiful
- Pronunciation: Kiy-Vaa
- Namesakes: Keeva Fennelly, an Irish camogie player and the 2009 Waterford IT Ashbourne Cup and league-winning captain.
- Popularity: Keeva ranked #7,679 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #3,612 in 2013. It has charted since 1968.
Keisha
Keisha comes from the Hebrew Keziah by way of the cassia tree, the source of cinnamon, and the original Keziah was one of Job’s daughters. It became widely loved as an African-American name in the 1970s and now sounds like the decade it owned.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Cassia
- Pronunciation: KIY-Shaa
- Variations: Keesha, Kiesha
- Namesakes: Keisha Bottoms, the 60th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2018 to 2022. Keisha White, an English R&B singer of the theme to the CBBC series The Story of Tracy Beaker (2002 to 2005).
- Popularity: Keisha ranked #2,738 for U.S. girls in 2025. Its best year was 1976 at #233, and it has charted since 1961.
Kelda
Kelda rests on Old Norse, the language once spoken across Norway, Denmark and Iceland, and it means fountain or spring. There is something storybook about it. All Scandinavian consonants and cold water sit behind it. It is one of the few names here that sounds invented and is not.
- Origin: Scandinavian
- Meaning: Spring, fountain
- Pronunciation: KEHLD-ah
- Namesakes: Kelda Holmes, an English actress in the children’s program Press Gang. Kelda Roys, an American politician in the Wisconsin State Senate since 2021.
- Popularity: Kelda last appeared in the U.S. data in 1990, at #14,055, having peaked at #4,334 in 1968. It first charted in 1961.
Kelilah
Kelilah is the Hebrew crown or laurel wreath, with a companion sense of victorious. It sits one letter away from Delilah and carries none of that name’s baggage, which is the quiet argument for it.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Crown, laurel
- Pronunciation: Keh-LIY-lah
- Variations: Kelila
- Popularity: Kelilah ranked #6,017 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best year being 2023 at #4,808. It first charted in 1999.
Kelly
Kelly means bright-headed in Gaelic and comes from the Irish surname Ó Ceallaigh, the descendant of Ceallach. It was a genuine top ten American girls’ name in the late 1970s, which is why it reads as a mother’s name rather than a baby’s right now, so give it fifteen years.
- Origin: Celtic, Gaelic
- Meaning: Warrior
- Pronunciation: KEHL-iy
- Variations: Kelie, Kelley, Kelli, Kellie
- Namesakes: Kelly Ripa, an American talk show host of Live! with Kelly and Ryan since 2001. Kelly Clarkson, an American singer who won the first season of American Idol in 2002.
- Popularity: Kelly ranked #852 for U.S. girls in 2025. It reached #10 in 1977 and has charted since 1907.
Kendall
Kendall comes from the Old English cyne, meaning royal, and dael, meaning valley. As a surname it points at the Kent river valley in the northwest of England. That valley sits in Cumbria, home to the town of Kendal itself. It is a surname name that has settled fully into the girls’ column without ever getting overexposed.
- Origin: Celtic
- Meaning: Valley of the River Kent
- Pronunciation: KEHN-Dael
- Variations: Kendahl, Kendal, Kendalle, Kendl
- Namesakes: Kendall Jenner, an American model appearing in Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Kendall Brown, a New Zealand snowboarder who competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
- Popularity: Kendall ranked #328 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #116 in 2012. It has charted since 1929.
Kendra
Kendra collects several readings, from wise ruler to greatest champion to high hill, and it grew up as a feminine answer to Kenneth, with its American moment coming in the late 1980s. The name has weight to it, two syllables that land hard, and it never sounds like it is trying to be sweet.
- Origin: English, Irish
- Meaning: Knowing
- Pronunciation: KEHN-Drah
- Variations: Kendrah, Kenndra
- Namesakes: Kendra Harrison, an American hurdler who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Kendra Wilkinson, an American TV personality on The Girls Next Door reality series.
- Popularity: Kendra ranked #849 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #77 in 1987. It has charted since 1936.
Kenley
Kenley describes a well-known clearing, which gets rendered as the king’s meadow. It began as an Old English surname. It now works as a unisex given name. It rides the same sound as Kinsley and Kensley, so it will be spelled at people for a lifetime, but it is the least used of the three.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: The King’s meadow
- Pronunciation: KEHN-Liy
- Variations: Kenlee, Kenleigh, Kenli, Kenlie
- Popularity: Kenley ranked #1,638 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #494 in 2011. It has charted since 1978.
Kenna
Kenna is the feminine of Kenneth, meaning fire-born and handsome, with Kenneth Mac Alpin, the first king of Scotland, standing behind it. It carries a Scottish backbone and an easy nickname, Ken, waiting inside it.
- Origin: Gaelic, Welsh
- Meaning: Quick love
- Pronunciation: KEHN-ah
- Variations: Kennah
- Popularity: Kenna ranked #759 for U.S. girls in 2025 and reached #661 in 2016. It has charted since 1924.
Kennedy
Kennedy began as a name in 10th-century Ireland, originally Cinnéidigh, the helmeted chief or head of the clan. It arrived in America as a surname, spent decades as a boys’ name, and now belongs almost entirely to girls. No other K name is doing better for American daughters right now.
- Origin: Celtic
- Meaning: Helmeted chief
- Pronunciation: KEH-neh-Diy
- Variations: Kennedee, Kennedey, Kennedi, Kennedie
- Namesakes: Kennedy McMann, an American actress known for the 2019 series Nancy Drew. Kennedy Faulknor, a Canadian soccer player with the Canadian national team.
- Popularity: Kennedy ranked #85 for U.S. girls in 2025, the highest ranked K name on this list, and it peaked at #54 in 2014. It has charted since 1957.
Kensley
Kensley is a compound of the Old Norse kelda, meaning well, and the Old English lēah, meaning clearing, so a spring in a glade. It reads as a surname to most people, and Haitian families have used it for boys. For American girls it has quietly become ordinary in the last decade.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Spring glade
- Pronunciation: KEHNZ-Liy
- Variations: Kinsley
- Popularity: In 2025, Kensley placed #742 for U.S. girls. Its best year came in 2018, at #424, and the name has charted since 1987.
Kenya
Kenya is the East African nation, named for the mountain, and Hebrew gives it a separate sense of animal horn. It had a real run with American girls in the 1970s. Place names age well or badly depending on the place, and this one has held up.
- Origin: African, Russian
- Meaning: Mountain of white
- Pronunciation: KEHN-Yaa
- Variations: Kennya, Kenyah
- Namesakes: Kenya D. Williamson, an American writer of Depth of Focus: A Novel. Kenya Moore, an American actress appearing on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
- Popularity: Kenya ranked #2,499 for U.S. girls in 2025. Its best year was 1973 at #275, and it has charted since 1952.
Kenzie
Kenzie is the Gaelic surname that describes the child of a wise leader, sometimes read as born of fire, and it goes back to the Gaelic cann, meaning bright. It works as the short form of MacKenzie, originally MacCoinnich, and it has been used on its own for two generations now. Cheerful, brief, and gender-neutral without effort.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Fair one
- Pronunciation: KEHN-Ziy
- Variations: Kenzee
- Namesakes: Kenzie Ruston Hemric, an American stock car driver who competed at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2015. Kenzie Ziegler, an American dancer appearing on the Lifetime series Dance Moms.
- Popularity: By 2025, Kenzie had settled at #736 for U.S. girls, well below the #245 it reached in 2014; the SSA has tracked it since 1970.
Keren
Keren means glorious dignity in Hebrew and shortens the longer Kerenhappuch, another of Job’s daughters’ names in the Bible. Both namesakes above are Israeli, a singer and a filmmaker, which fits its Hebrew roots. English readers see Karen for half a second and then do a small double take, which is either a drawback or the whole charm.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Strength, power
- Pronunciation: KEH-Rehn
- Namesakes: Keren Peles, an Israeli singer-songwriter named Israeli Singer of the Year. Keren Yedaya, an Israeli filmmaker whose 2004 film Or (My Treasure) won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
- Popularity: Keren ranked #2,632 for U.S. girls in 2025 and did best in 2019 at #1,240. It has charted since 1939.
Kerenza
Kerenza is the Cornish word for love, used straight, with no translation needed. It looks more like an Italian last name than a girl’s name, which is part of the appeal. Your daughter is unlikely ever to meet another one.
- Origin: Cornish, English
- Meaning: Love
- Pronunciation: Keh-REHNZ-ah
- Variations: Kerensa
- Namesakes: Kerenza Peacock, an English violinist with the London Symphony Orchestra.
- Popularity: Kerenza last charted in the U.S. data in 2019, at #16,817, having peaked at #15,055 in 2017. It first appeared in 2017.
Kerry
Kerry is an Irish county before it is anything else, and the name is read as dark-haired and as dark princess. Latin and Spanish give the sound a separate meaning of dear. It has drifted toward boys and back again over the decades, and right now it is nobody’s fashion, which suits some families perfectly.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Black-haired
- Pronunciation: KEH-Riy
- Variations: Kerri, Keri, Kerie, Kerrie, Kery
- Namesakes: Kerry Fox, a New Zealand actress best known for the film An Angel at My Table. Kerry Healey, the 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.
- Popularity: Kerry ranked #2,464 for U.S. girls in 2025 after peaking at #158 in 1960. It has charted since 1921.
Ketevan
Ketevan comes through the Georgian Katāyoun, the Persian mythological figure. Georgians treat it as their form of Katherine and shorten it to Keti, Keto or Ketino. It is a queenly name in a country that has had several, and it will be entirely new to almost everyone here.
- Origin: Georgian, Persian
- Meaning: Queen of the house
- Pronunciation: KEH-teh-Vahn
- Namesakes: Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, a Georgian-Scottish Grandmaster of chess, who won the Women’s Soviet Chess Championship in 1990. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality in Georgia from 2016 to 2020.
- Popularity: Ketevan does not appear in the U.S. births data, since a name must reach five births in a year to be published.
Keturah
Keturah rests on the Hebrew ketoret, meaning incense. She was Abraham’s second wife in the Old Testament, a woman the text treats as pleasing as the fragrance she is named for. It has the softness of Deborah with almost none of the use.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Fragrance
- Pronunciation: Keh-TUWR-ah
- Namesakes: Keturah Anderson, a Canadian hurdler and bronze medalist at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. Keturah Sorrell, a British actress appearing in the series Waiting for God.
- Popularity: Keturah ranked #4,819 for U.S. girls in 2025, its best year being 1982 at #1,339. It has charted since 1890.
Keziah
Keziah belongs to one of Job’s daughters, and in that setting it is read as restored to the heart of God. The cassia tree, the source of cinnamon, gives it its other meaning. It is doing better in the United States now than at any point on record, which is unusual for a biblical name this old.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Cassia Tree
- Pronunciation: KEH-ziy-Ah
- Variations: Kezia
- Popularity: Keziah ranked #767 for U.S. girls in 2025, the best year it has had since first charting in 1972.
Khadijah
Khadijah is read as the early baby, and also as trustworthy and respected. Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the first wife of the prophet Muhammad, is the reason it has traveled so widely. It is one of the most recognized names in the Muslim world and one of the least dated on this list.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Pre-mature child
- Pronunciation: Kaa-DIY-Jhaa
- Variations: Khadija, Khadeeja
- Namesakes: Khadijah Whittington, an American basketball player for the CSM Satu Mare. Khadijah Hashim, a Malaysian writer of Sayang Sayang, which is on the Honour List of the International Board on Books for Young People (2002).
- Popularity: Khadijah ranked #1,432 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #184 in 1994. It has charted since 1962.
Kharissa
Kharissa builds on Charis, which Edmund Spenser used in The Faerie Queene, and it functions as the female counterpart to Chares. Grace is the idea underneath. The Kh opening gives an otherwise soft name a bit of grit.
- Origin: Latin, Greek
- Meaning: Beloved, grace
- Pronunciation: Kha-RIYS-ah
- Variations: Charissa
- Popularity: Kharissa last charted in the U.S. data in 2020, at #16,366, after its 1993 peak of #11,185. It first appeared in 1981.
Khloe
Khloe means green shoot in Greek, the first growth on a plant. Chloe is a second name for Demeter, goddess of the harvest. The K spelling took off alongside Khloé Kardashian and has held a top-300 spot ever since, at #272 in 2025, so it is now its own name rather than a variant.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Green shoot, blossoming
- Pronunciation: KLOW-iy
- Variations: Khloey, Chloe
- Namesakes: Khloé Kardashian, an American socialite starring in the reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
- Popularity: Khloe ranked #272 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #42 in 2010. It first charted in 1989.
Kiana
Kiana is the feminine of the Irish Kian, whose sense runs to ancient and to God is gracious. It has ancient Persian origins as Qiana and Quiana, and Hawaiian reads it as divine. Three origins, one very easy name to say.
- Origin: Irish, Persian
- Meaning: Ancient
- Pronunciation: Kiy-AEN-ah
- Variations: Kianna, Keana, Keanna, Kyana, Kyanna
- Namesakes: Kiana Eide, an American rhythmic gymnast and gold medalist at the 2015 Pan American Games. Kiana Firouz, an Iranian filmmaker appearing in the film Cul-de-Sac.
- Popularity: Kiana’s 2025 U.S. rank for girls was #743, down from a 1996 high of #190; the name first appeared in the federal data in 1962.
Kiara
Kiara rests on the Irish root ciar, meaning black or dark. It doubles as a form of the Italian Chiara and the Irish Ciara, and Korean gives it the first ray of sun. It peaked at #78 in 1999 and sits at #229 in 2025, the kind of name people choose rather than catch.
- Origin: Irish, Italian
- Meaning: Dark one
- Pronunciation: Kiy-AHR-aa
- Variations: Keara, Keearra, Kiarra
- Namesakes: Kiara Fontanilla, a Filipino footballer for the Philippines women’s national team. Kiara Delgado, a Puerto Rican beauty pageant titleholder, crowned Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2018.
- Popularity: For U.S. girls, Kiara held the #229 spot in 2025, a slide from its #78 peak in 1999; it has been charting since 1968.
Kiki
Kiki means Sunday in Greek and follower of Christ in Norse, and Japanese gives the sound a much sharper meaning of crisis. Mostly it is a nickname that decided to be a name. It is playful, a little theatrical, and hard to say without smiling.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: Double happiness
- Pronunciation: KIY-Kiy
- Variations: Keeki
- Namesakes: Kiki Byrne, a Norwegian-English fashion designer famous on London’s King’s Road in the 1950s and 1960s. Kiki Bertens, a Dutch tennis player and one of the highest-ranked Dutch female players.
- Popularity: Kiki ranked #8,116 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #2,078 in 1975. It bottomed out in 1989 and has recovered about 2.7 times over from that low, the biggest revival on this list.
Kimberly
Kimberly began as a place, the royal fortress meadow, and before that a clearing belonging to a woman named Cyneburg. It was the second most popular name in America for baby girls in 1966, which means an entire generation of Kims. It peaked at #2 in 1966 and sits at #303 in 2025, still inside the top 350.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: From the wood of the royal forest
- Pronunciation: KIHM-ber-Liy
- Variations: Kimberley, Kimmberly
- Namesakes: Kimberley (Kim) Deal, an American musician and member of the alternative rock band The Pixies. Kimberly Moser, an American member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since 2017.
- Popularity: Kimberly ranked #303 for U.S. girls in 2025. It reached #2 in 1966 and has charted since 1933.
Kimona
Kimona is read as resting in Jamaican use and as enchanting in English. It also turns up as a Hawaiian form of Simon, from the Hebrew Shimon, meaning heard. The look of it invites confusion with kimono, which is worth thinking about before you commit.
- Origin: Jamaican
- Meaning: Resting
- Pronunciation: Kih-MOH-nah
- Popularity: Kimona last appeared in the U.S. data in 1979, at #10,998, one year after it first charted in 1978.
Kincső
Kincső was invented by the 19th-century Hungarian writer Mór Jókai for his novel The Novel of the Next Century, and it means treasure. Hungary took it seriously enough to keep it in regular use. The accented ő will not survive most American forms, which is the practical catch.
- Origin: Romanian, Hungarian
- Meaning: Treasure
- Pronunciation: KIHN-schow
- Namesakes: Kincső Takács, a Hungarian sprint canoeist who competed at the 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
- Popularity: Kincső is not listed in the U.S. births data, which publishes a name only at five births or more in a year.
Kinsley
Kinsley comes from the Old English Cynesige, joining royal to victory. It reads as a surname and behaves like one, formal on paper and casual out loud. It is one of the biggest American girls’ names of the last decade, so expect company in the classroom.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: King’s meadow
- Pronunciation: KIHNZ-Liy
- Variations: Kinslee, Kinsleigh, Kinsli, Kinslie, Kinsly
- Popularity: Kinsley ranked #93 for U.S. girls in 2025, one of only three K names in the girls’ top 100, and it peaked at #57 in 2021. It has charted since 1978.
Kira
Kira works as an English form of the Irish Ciara, meaning dark-haired, and Slavic gives it the sense of a strong woman. It may also descend from the Greek kyrios, meaning lord, which turns it into mistress of the house. Four letters, two syllables, and a different origin story on every continent.
- Origin: Russian, Greek
- Meaning: Throne
- Pronunciation: KIH-Raa
- Variations: Kyra
- Namesakes: Kira Cochrane, a British journalist and Head of Features at The Guardian. Kira Trusova, a Russian handball player for the Russian national team.
- Popularity: 2025 put Kira at #385 for U.S. girls, off its 2005 high of #241, in a run that goes back to 1938.
Kit
Kit shortens Christopher for boys and Katherine for girls, and it has served as a nickname far longer than it has been a legal name. Kit Carson gave it a frontier ring that has never quite worn off. It is climbing faster than anything else on this page, which fits the current appetite for tiny, blunt, vintage names.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Bearing Christ
- Pronunciation: KIHT
- Variations: Kitt
- Popularity: Kit ranked #1,103 for U.S. girls in 2025 and has charted since 1880. It is the fastest riser on this list, up about 842 percent when the last ten years of births are set against the ten before them.
Kitty
Kitty is the old nickname for Katherine that Britain never let go of. It was far more used in its day than Kathy is now. There is no getting around the cat, and the families who pick it have already decided they do not mind.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Pure
- Pronunciation: KIH-tiy
- Variations: Kittie
- Namesakes: Katharine “Kitty” Dukakis, the American wife of former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis. Kitty Jutbring, a Swedish reality TV personality and radio host on Sveriges Radio P3.
- Popularity: Kitty last charted in the U.S. data in 2024, at #14,422. It peaked at #430 in 1947 and has appeared on and off since 1880.
Klara
Klara is the Slavic and German spelling of Clara, from the Latin clarus, meaning clear and bright. Saint Clare of Assisi, who followed Francis in the 13th century, carried the name into common use across Catholic Europe. It is Clara with a colder, cleaner edge.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Bright
- Pronunciation: KLAA-Raa
- Variations: Clara
- Namesakes: Klara (born Klára Vytisková), a Czech singer named Female Singer of the Year at the 2015 Anděl Awards.
- Popularity: Klara ranked #1,804 for U.S. girls in 2025 and did best in 2019 at #1,457. It has charted since 1884.
Klaudia
Klaudia rests on the Latin claudus, meaning limping, which is a blunt origin for a graceful name. It also marks someone of the patrician Claudii, one of the great noble families of ancient Rome. Poland has long kept it in everyday use; America barely does.
- Origin: Polish, German
- Meaning: Lame
- Pronunciation: KLAW-diy-Yaa
- Variations: Claudia
- Namesakes: Klaudia Kulon, a Polish chess player and International Master in 2019. Klaudia Szemereyné Pataki, a Hungarian member of the National Assembly from 2013 to 2014.
- Popularity: Klaudia ranked #9,791 for U.S. girls in 2025 and peaked at #2,801 in 1997. It has charted since 1954.
Kohar
Kohar is the Armenian word for a jewel or a gem. Urdu takes it from the Persian Gohar, meaning brilliant. Two syllables, hard consonants, and almost no history in English-speaking countries, which makes it a genuinely open choice.
- Origin: Armenian
- Meaning: Jewel
- Pronunciation: KOW-Haar
- Popularity: Kohar has not reached the SSA’s five-birth publication threshold, so no U.S. ranking exists for it.
Konstantina
Konstantina comes from the Latin Cōnstantīnus and its root cōnstāns, which means to stand firm. Greece has long kept it in steady everyday use and shortens it to Nadia or Dina. It is also an unmistakable nod to Constantinople.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Constancy, steadfast
- Pronunciation: Kaan-staan-TIYN-Ah
- Variations: Konstantyna
- Namesakes: Konstantina Benteli, a Greek weightlifter and gold medalist at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. Konstantina Moutos, a Greek-New Zealand fashion designer and winner of the Supreme Award at the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards in 1986.
- Popularity: Konstantina’s 2025 U.S. rank for girls sat at #9,798, far off the #3,975 it reached in 1977, in a run dating to 1960.
Kora
Kora comes from the Greek kórē, the maiden, and it is another name for Persephone. Through Cornelia it picks up a secondary sense of horn. It is Cora with a sharper first letter and rides the same wave of short vintage names.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Maiden
- Pronunciation: KAOR-aa
- Variations: Cora
- Namesakes: Kora Karvouni, a Greek actress appearing in the film September (2013). Kora Boufflert, a French race walker who won the Paris-Colmar Women’s walk race in 1995.
- Popularity: Kora ranked #491 for U.S. girls in 2025, close to its 2022 best of #465. It has charted since 1942.
Kori
Kori stands beside the Greek Kora but has grown into its own thing. Kikuyu gives it a farming sense, to lamb, and by way of Corey it also reads as hollow. It is unisex in practice and has never had a fashionable decade, which some parents count as the point.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Maiden
- Pronunciation: KAOR-iy
- Variations: Kory, Korey, Korie, Korri, Korrie
- Namesakes: Kori Inkpen, a Canadian computer scientist focused on human-computer interaction at Microsoft Research.
- Popularity: Kori’s U.S. girls’ rank came in at #978 in 2025, well below the #631 it hit in 2016, with a charting history dating to 1953.
Korva
Korva is Slavic for a cow, which sounds unpromising until you meet the second thread: it is used in India as a unisex name, most likely through Kaurava, the Sanskrit word for the descendants of the great king Kuru. That is a lot of epic weight for two syllables.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: Cow
- Pronunciation: KAOR-Vah
- Variations: Corva
- Popularity: Korva does not appear in the U.S. births data, which lists a name only once it reaches five births in a year.
Konstanze
Konstanze is the German answer to the Latin Constance, the steady one. Germany still uses it while the English-speaking world has largely let Constance go. Stanzi makes it far more approachable than the full four syllables suggest.
- Origin: German, Latin
- Meaning: The steady one
- Pronunciation: Kaan-STAEN-zey
- Variations: Konstancja, Constanza, Konstanczia
- Namesakes: Konstanze Dahn, a 19th-century German actress at the Royal Court Theater.
- Popularity: Konstanze is below the SSA’s five-birth publication line, so the U.S. data carries no ranking for it.
Kourtney
Kourtney first meant the domain of Curtenus, from the Latin curtus, meaning short or broken. It was a surname for people from Courtenay in northern France and came to England with the Norman Conquest in 1066. The K spelling belongs to one very famous family and to the turn of the 1990s.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: From the King’s court
- Pronunciation: KAORT-Niy
- Variations: Courtney, Kortnee, Kortney, Kortni
- Namesakes: Kourtney Kardashian, an American media personality in the reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
- Popularity: Kourtney ranked #4,502 for U.S. girls in 2025, well down from its 1990 peak of #403. It has charted since 1964.
Krasimira
Krasimira comes from the Slavic Krešimir, joining krasa, meaning beauty, to mir, meaning peace. Bulgaria has used it for generations, and it is the feminine of Krasimir. Mira is the ready-made short form for anyone outside the Balkans.
- Origin: Bulgarian, Slavic
- Meaning: Beautiful peace
- Pronunciation: Kaa-siy-MIH-Rah
- Variations: Krassimira
- Namesakes: Krassimira Daskalova, a Bulgarian co-editor of the journal Aspasia since 2007.
- Popularity: Krasimira has never reached five births in a U.S. year, so it does not appear in the federal data.
Kristen
Kristen is a Scandinavian route to Christina, the follower of Christ. It was a top 100 American name through the 1970s and 1980s. It has that particular sound of a woman in her forties right now, which is exactly where names sit just before they become interesting again.
- Origin: English, Latin
- Meaning: Follower of Christ
- Pronunciation: KRIHS-Tehn
- Variations: Kirsten
- Namesakes: Kristen Schaal, an American voice actress on the series Bob’s Burgers. Kristen Soltis Anderson, an American writer for The Daily Beast.
- Popularity: Kristen ranked #1,999 for U.S. girls in 2025. It peaked at #33 in 1982 and has charted since 1938.
Kristina
Kristina descends from the Latin Christinus and means the anointed one. It is one of the most traditional K spellings on this page, used across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe alike. The nicknames change with the country, from Kristy and Tina in the United States to Krisya and Kristya in Russia.
- Origin: Greek, Latin
- Meaning: Anointed
- Pronunciation: Krihs-TIY-naa
- Variations: Khristina, Krystina, Christina, Krystyna
- Namesakes: Kristina Gorshkova, a Russian ice dancer and the 2008 World Junior bronze medalist. Kristina Krepela, a Croatian actress appearing in La Femme Musketeer.
- Popularity: Kristina’s 2025 U.S. girls’ rank stood at #1,724, well down from #57, its 1985 peak; it has charted since 1915.
Krpana
Krpana is a Slavic name meaning patchwork, and it also serves as an Indian name read as miserly. The consonant cluster at the front will stop an English speaker cold. There is genuinely nothing else like it on this list.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: Patchwork
- Pronunciation: Kihr-PAHN-ah
- Popularity: Krpana is not listed in the U.S. births data, which publishes only names reaching five births in a year.
Kryska
Kryska is a Slavic variation on Christina, from the Latin Christianus. It is sharper and shorter than Kristine and sounds like a nickname a family invented. Rare enough that you will be explaining it, memorable enough that you will only explain it once.
- Origin: Greek, Russian
- Meaning: Follower of Christ
- Pronunciation: KRIHS-Kah
- Popularity: Kryska falls under the SSA’s five-birth publication line, so it has no U.S. ranking.
Krystal
Krystal is the Americanized spelling of Crystal, from the ancient Greek krystallos, meaning ice. It was a genuine top 100 name in the mid-1980s and is now firmly a name of that decade. Gemstone names cycle, so it will not stay parked forever.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Ice
- Pronunciation: KRIHS-Taal
- Variations: Kristal, Kristel, Kristol, Crystal
- Namesakes: Krystal Barter, an Australian founder of the Pink Hope breast cancer awareness organization. Krystal Sutherland, an Australian writer of the novel Our Chemical Hearts.
- Popularity: Krystal ranked #2,135 for U.S. girls in 2025. It peaked at #53 in 1985 and has charted since 1946.
Kyla
Kyla reads as the crown of laurel through Irish and as cloud by way of the Old Norse sky. Its American moment came in the early 2000s, and it has come down slowly since. Friends often shorten it to Ky, and it still sounds young.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Crown of laurel
- Pronunciation: KAY-Laa
- Variations: Kylah
- Namesakes: Kyla Leibel, a Canadian swimmer and silver medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games. Kyla Kenedy, an American actress appearing in The Walking Dead series.
- Popularity: Kyla stood at #580 for U.S. girls in 2025, down from a 2004 high of #162; the SSA has recorded it since 1940.
Kylie
Kylie means boomerang in an Aboriginal Australian sense and narrow channel in Scottish. Through the Irish surname O’Kiely it also describes the descendant of the graceful one. It peaked at #49 in 2004 and sits at #204 in 2025, and it has been carried by more than one very famous woman, which keeps it in the ear.
- Origin: Scottish, Aboriginal
- Meaning: Boomerang
- Pronunciation: KAEY-Liy
- Variations: Kiley, Kylee, Kyleigh, Kyley
- Namesakes: Kylie Oversen, an American member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from 2013 to 2016. Kylie Duarte, an American pair skater, and the 2012 U.S. junior bronze medalist.
- Popularity: Kylie’s 2025 U.S. girls’ rank was #204, a comedown from #49 in 2004, and the name has charted since 1960.
Kyllikki
Kyllikki comes from The Kalevala, the Finnish epic about the making of the world, where she is the maiden of the island. Finnish also gives it the sense of abundance and of a woman of strength. The double letters look daunting and the name is far gentler out loud than on paper.
- Origin: Finnish
- Meaning: Woman of strength
- Pronunciation: Kah-LIY-kee
- Popularity: Kyllikki does not appear in the U.S. births data, since the SSA lists a name only at five births or more in a year.
