King
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"
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. King peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
37 people · the #81,857 first name in Brazil · median age 35
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
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.
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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