Given name & surname
Kain
“the acquirer”
Kain is used as a given name and a surname. One Hebrew interpretation is “the acquirer.”
Original Hebrewקַיִן
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “the acquirer.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1973. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kain through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 3,750
- 3,750 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2016
- 180 babies
- 2025
- 94
- #1,738 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −24%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 94 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,738 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 24.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 180 in 2016. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (11). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,808 as a first name in 2020; 4,631 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Kain’s family of names
Kain has a related form in Kane. In Czech usage, Kain has a conventional equivalent in the English form Cain. In Czech usage, Kain has a conventional equivalent in the Portuguese form CAIM.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Kain has relatives in 7 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
Hebrewwhere Kain comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 3
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Kain
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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