Kjell
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Meaning
a form of Ketil, from Old Norse Ketill, "kettle, cauldron" and later also "helmet"
How popular is Kjell around the world?
In the United States, Kjell is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source. In Norway, 11 boys were given the name Kjell in 2025.
Kjell is on the official records of Norway, Austria and Spain.
United States
under 5 a year
In the United States, Kjell is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kjell has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Norway
1 in 2,600register 2026
In Norway, 11 boys were given the name Kjell in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Austria
1 in 25,000
In Austria, 3 boys named Kjell were born in 2025, the 981st most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 3 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)
Spain
1 in 1.7M
In Spain, 26 residents are named Kjell, ranked 24,771st among men, with a mean age of 63.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Canada
last on record 2001
Kjell is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland 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 Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years.
When you meet Kjell
Most people given the name Kjell in the United States were born between 1970 and 1999. The Kjell you meet today is most often in his 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Kjell deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kjell 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 Kjell fits with your family’s names and surname.
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