Given name & surname
Knight
“a noble solidier”
Knight is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a noble solidier.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a noble solidier.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Middle English knyghte, from Old English cniht (“youth; servant”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1923. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Knight through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 934
- 934 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2022
- 74 babies
- 2025
- 56
- #2,435 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −3%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 56 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,435 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 2.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (7). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 676 as a first name in 2020; 132,682 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.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Appears in
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