Given name & surname · also Old Norse
Kirk
“a man of the church”
Kirk is used as a given name and a surname. One interpretation is “a man of the church.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “a man of the church.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old Norse.
How it developed
From Old Norse kirkja, from Old English ċiriċe, from Proto-West Germanic *kirikā, from Koine Greek κῡρῐᾰκόν, from Koine Greek κῡριακός.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kirk through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 68,264
- 68,067 boys · 197 girls
- Most popular year
- 1962
- 2,560 babies
- 2025
- 52
- #2,551 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −28%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 52 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,551 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 28.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 2,560 in 1962. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 55,261 as a first name in 2020; 51,067 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.
Kirk’s family of names
In English usage, Kirk shares an earlier linguistic root with CHURCH. Kirk has a related form in Kirklin. Kirk has a related form in Kirklyn.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Kirk
- Kirk DouglasAmerican actor (1916–2020)
- Kirk HammettAmerican guitaristborn 1962
- Kirk CameronAmerican actorborn 1970
- Kirk KerkorianAmerican businessman, investor, and philanthropist (1917–2015)
- Kirk AcevedoAmerican actorborn 1971
- Kirk HinrichAmerican basketball player (born 1981)
- Kirk AlynAmerican actor (1910-1999)
- Kirk FranklinAmerican gospel musicianborn 1970
- Sticky FingazAmerican rapper, record producer, actor, film director, film editor and writerborn 1973
Characters named Kirk: Kirk Van Houten (The Simpsons character).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Kirk, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kell
“from the spring”
>99% boys
Von
“filled with hope”
99% boys · 1% girls
Jens
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Elvis
“one who is wise”
>99% boys
Trond
“a growing man”
>99% boys
Hans
“God is gracious”
>99% boys
Knut
“a knot” · “knot”
>99% boys
Ivars
Ivars is a masculine given name from Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian, ultimately from Old Norse. It is used in Latvian.
>99% boys