Kinsey
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Kinsey
Popular for girls in the 90s and 2000s, Kinsey has since been replaced in the US charts by Kinsley, Kinley, and Kenzie, so if you're looking for a softer, surname-style name for boys, Kinsey might now be one to ponder. Occasionally given to boys in the first half of the 20th century, it also saw some quiet usage in the UK.
Kinsey for boys
Ultimately derived from Cynesige, an Anglo-Saxon given name, meaning "royal victory" or "king's victory", Kinsey is associated with sexologist and creator of the Kinsey scale, Alfred Kinsey, though this may put some people off.
Kinsey for girls#3086 US
Kinsey enjoyed popularity blip thanks to similarity to Lindsay, and because of Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries heroine, Kinsey Millhone. Now, Kinsley has become more popular than Kinsey, perhaps because it's more distinct from Mackenzie offshoot, Kenzie.
Originally used as a surname, Kinsey comes from the Anglo-Saxon given name, Cynesige, which means "king's victory" or "royal victory". It may also be associated with American sexologist, Alfred Kinsey, remembered for creating the Kinsey scale.
Pronounced KIN-zee.
As of November 2026, Kinsey ranked #13153 for boys in US births in 2015 and #3086 for girls in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #3207 for boys in 1982 and #835 for girls in 1998.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | #1,119 | 227 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | #1,369 | 173 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | #1,376 | 171 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | #1,584 | 138 |
| 2018 | — | 0 | #1,571 | 138 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | #2,243 | 82 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | #1,825 | 108 |
| 2021 | — | 0 | #2,016 | 96 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | #1,677 | 125 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | #1,929 | 103 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | #2,391 | 76 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | #3,086 | 53 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Kinsey.
Kinsey on lists
Famous Kinseys
- Kinsey Lea SchofieldGirl
American journalist and reality TV personality
- Kinsey WilsonGirl
American male journalist and digital media executive
- Angela KinseyGirl
American actress
- Alfred KinseyGirl
American biologist and surveyor of human sexual behaviour
Kinsey in pop culture
- The Kinsey ScaleGirl
developed by Alfred Kinsey, a scale used to place where you sit in terms of your sexuality. 0 being completely heterosexual up to 6 being completely homosexual
- Kinsey MillhoneGirl
main character in Sue Grafton's "alphabet mystery" series
- "KinseyGirl
" British TV series about main characters Neil and Judy Kinsey
- "KinseyGirl
" film about Alfred Kinsey
- The surname comes from the medieval personal name KynseyGirl
a descendant of Old English Cynesige, literally "royal victory."