Given name & surname
Kell
“from the spring”
Kell is used as a given name and a surname. One interpretation is “from the spring.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “from the spring.”
Where it comes from
Kell is a form of Kelly. Kelly comes from Irish.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1915. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kell through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 234
- 234 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1960
- 11 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2021. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 636 as a first name in 2020; 4,686 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.
Kell’s family of names
Kell has a related form in Kelle. In English usage, Kell has a related form in Kel. Kell has a related form in Kel.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Kell
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Kell, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kirk
“a man of the church”
>99% boys
Trond
“a growing man”
>99% boys
Skeet
“one who is swift” · “one who shoots”
>99% boys
Skipper
“the master of a ship”
99% boys · 1% girls
Knut
“a knot” · “knot”
>99% boys
Rothwell
“from the red spring”
>99% boys
Jens
“God is gracious”
>99% boys
Tor
“one who is peaceful”
>99% boys