Knox
Meaning
surname, "round hill"
The story
Knox is a Scottish surname from cnoc, the round hill, carried by John Knox, the reformer who argued Scotland into a new church. As an American first name it spent a century as a curiosity, between 5 and 173 babies a decade, fading to just 20 in the 1970s. Then about 750 in the 2000s, and then the cliff in reverse: 12,200 in the 2010s, a sixteen-fold jump, with 10,600 so far this decade. Those are the years after a Knox arrived in the most photographed family on earth, the same celebrity current that lifted his brother Maddox, and our standing hedge applies: the coincidence is exact, the proof impossible at decade scale. It is a boys' name in our records, about 24,100 to 240, and its single syllable with the X landing gives it the snap that Jax and Lennox families are also buying.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Knox peaked in the 2020s.
When you meet Knox
Most people given the name Knox 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 Knox deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Knox 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 Knox fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Knox · Middle names for Knox · Strong names · Short names
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