King
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Meaning
from the title/word "king"
The story
King is the boldest of the title names, and its American story is older than it looks. It was quietly present a century ago, about 800 to 1,000 a decade through the 1910s and 1920s, long a name of particular resonance in Black American families, then thinned to about 320 in the 1970s. The modern return is emphatic: about 1,950 in the 2000s, then 20,500 in the 2010s, a tenfold decade, with 9,100 so far this decade. It leads the register Messiah and Saint also occupy, names that state the hope outright, and our records make it a boys' name almost absolutely, about 37,600 to 40. One irony sits in this same batch of our worklist: Presley, the surname of the man America actually called the King, is climbing right beside it. The title and the throne's last occupant, arriving together.
The formal names behind King
King is an established short form of this name.
Kingston · English origin · place name, "king's settlement"
How popular is King around the world?
In the United States, 9,062 babies were named King between 2020 and 2025.
King is on the official records of the United States, Canada, England and Wales and Brazil.
United States
1 in 2,400
In the United States, 9,062 babies were named King between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. King peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. King went to 2,568 US babies in 2015 and 786 in 2025, 31% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 11,000
In Canada, 34 boys named King were born in 2024, the 772nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 17,000
In England and Wales, 35 boys named King were born in 2025, the 896th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
last on record 2021
King is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 37 people in Brazil were named King, ranked 81,857th, with a median age of 35.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Ireland
last on record 2014
King is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Montevideo City
last on record 1992
King is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Scotland
last on record 2023
King is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
last on record 2008
King is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet King
Most people given the name King in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like King · Names that go with King · Middle names for King · Short names · Climbers and fallers
The King deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where King truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how King fits with your family’s names and surname.
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