Kale
- Last seen for girls in 2013 at #16,547
- #7,194 for boys in 2025, 11 births
- Given to boys 97.0% of the time
Showing
- Peak · boys
- 2008 · 544 births
- Debut · boys
- 6 births
- In top 100 · boys
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 7,379since 1917
Kale over time
boys
Rank among boys' names. Kale has never cracked the top 500 here.
Hover or use arrow keys to read values by year; click or press Enter to open that year.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | — | #7,194 | 11 | |
| 2024 | — | #5,241 | 18 | |
| 2023 | — | #6,517 | 13 | |
| 2022 | — | #4,442 | 23 | |
| 2021 | — | #3,814 | 28 | |
| 2020 | — | #4,020 | 25 | |
| 2019 | — | #4,003 | 26 | |
| 2018 | — | #2,674 | 46 | |
| 2017 | — | #2,170 | 62 | |
| 2016 | — | #1,605 | 101 | |
| 2015 | — | #1,096 | 177 | |
| 2014 | — | #970 | 216 | |
| 2013 | #16,547 | 5 | #829 | 259 |
| 2012 | #9,711 | 11 | #721 | 325 |
| 2011 | #16,764 | 5 | #590 | 424 |
| 2010 | #8,701 | 13 | #590 | 423 |
| 2009 | #8,058 | 15 | #516 | 521 |
| 2008 | #5,955 | 23 | #504 | 544 |
| 2007 | #7,092 | 18 | #635 | 382 |
| 2006 | #5,709 | 23 | #767 | 272 |
| 2005 | #10,128 | 10 | #754 | 264 |
| 2004 | — | #802 | 225 | |
| 2003 | #15,784 | 5 | #905 | 184 |
| 2002 | — | #901 | 179 | |
| 2001 | #13,521 | 6 | #973 | 158 |
| 2000 | #13,154 | 6 | #986 | 150 |
| 1999 | #12,688 | 6 | #1,063 | 128 |
| 1998 | #14,122 | 5 | #999 | 137 |
| 1997 | #10,836 | 7 | #1,169 | 103 |
| 1996 | — | #1,206 | 93 | |
| 1995 | — | #1,194 | 94 | |
| 1994 | — | #1,078 | 107 | |
| 1993 | #9,559 | 8 | #1,060 | 109 |
| 1992 | #11,738 | 6 | #1,097 | 100 |
| 1991 | — | #1,155 | 91 | |
| 1990 | #9,247 | 8 | #1,021 | 108 |
| 1989 | #10,847 | 6 | #1,094 | 93 |
| 1988 | #10,386 | 6 | #916 | 108 |
| 1987 | #9,825 | 6 | #858 | 119 |
| 1986 | — | #1,015 | 83 | |
| 1985 | #7,563 | 8 | #950 | 92 |
| 1984 | #9,144 | 6 | #1,123 | 65 |
| 1983 | #6,705 | 9 | #1,327 | 49 |
| 1982 | — | #1,487 | 42 | |
| 1981 | — | #1,294 | 51 | |
| 1980 | — | #1,449 | 43 | |
| 1979 | #10,210 | 5 | #1,570 | 37 |
| 1978 | — | #1,393 | 44 | |
| 1977 | — | #1,546 | 36 | |
| 1976 | — | #1,646 | 32 | |
| 1975 | — | #1,478 | 36 | |
| 1974 | — | #1,618 | 30 | |
| 1973 | — | #1,514 | 32 | |
| 1972 | — | #2,020 | 20 | |
| 1971 | — | #1,705 | 27 | |
| 1970 | — | #1,615 | 28 | |
| 1969 | — | #2,130 | 16 | |
| 1968 | — | #2,030 | 16 | |
| 1967 | — | #2,242 | 13 | |
| 1966 | — | #2,784 | 9 | |
| 1965 | — | #3,244 | 7 | |
| 1964 | — | #2,854 | 9 | |
| 1963 | — | #2,200 | 14 | |
| 1962 | — | #2,035 | 16 | |
| 1961 | — | #3,097 | 8 | |
| 1960 | — | #2,871 | 9 | |
| 1959 | — | #3,988 | 5 | |
| 1958 | — | #3,275 | 7 | |
| 1957 | — | #3,257 | 7 | |
| 1956 | — | #2,361 | 12 | |
| 1955 | — | — | ||
| 1954 | — | — | ||
| 1953 | — | #3,798 | 5 | |
| 1952 | — | #3,734 | 5 | |
| 1951 | — | — | ||
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| 1949 | — | — | ||
| 1948 | — | — | ||
| 1947 | — | — | ||
| 1946 | — | — | ||
| 1945 | — | #2,996 | 6 | |
| 1944 | — | — | ||
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| 1938 | — | — | ||
| 1937 | — | #3,518 | 5 | |
| 1936 | — | — | ||
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| 1925 | — | #2,588 | 11 | |
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| 1917 | — | #3,545 | 6 | |
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| 1880 | — | — | ||
First appearance
1917
The first year at least five boys were named Kale! It came in at #3,545, and was given to 6 baby boys.
Quietest stretch: 1918–1924, when fewer than 5 boys a year got the name.
Where Kale is popular in 2025
No state had 5 or more boys named Kale in 2025, so the SSA doesn't publish it for any state.
See more about Kale
Momentum · boys
Falling
- 3,174 spots since 2020 (#4,020 → #7,194)
- Biggest jump: 173 spots in 1985
- Biggest drop: 178 spots in 1989
Rise & fade · boys
91 yrs to peak
- Debuted 1917
- Peaked 2008 at #504 (544 births)
- Births halved by 2013, 5 yrs later
Top of the charts · boys
Top 1,000 for 19 yrs
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 19 yrs · run 2000–2014
Share of babies · boys
1 in 3,750
- Highest: 1 in 3,750 boys born in 2008 were named Kale (0.03%)
- Latest: 1 in 155,280 boys born in 2025 (0.00%)
Era · boys
The 2000s
- 39.0% of all boys named Kale (2,879) were born in this decade
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 6 | #3,545 (1917) | #3,545 |
| 1920s | 11 | #2,588 (1925) | #2,588 |
| 1930s | 5 | #3,518 (1937) | #3,518 |
| 1940s | 6 | #2,996 (1945) | #2,996 |
| 1950s | 41 | #2,361 (1956) | #3,402 |
| 1960s | 117 | #2,030 (1968) | #2,549 |
| 1970s | 322 | #1,393 (1978) | #1,611 |
| 1980s | 745 | #858 (1987) | #1,151 |
| 1990s | 1,070 | #999 (1998) | #1,104 |
| 2000s | 2,879 | #504 (2008) | #774 |
| 2010s | 2,059 | #590 (2011) | #1,525 |
| 2020s | 118 | #3,814 (2021) | #5,205 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Want to check a specific year?
See where Kale ranked and which names it was up against. Click a point on the chart, or pick a year: