Dog Names That Start With K

Keeley is well-used in modern Ireland, also found as Keely and Keela. The boys' form is Keelan. Largely unknown in the US, this could make an interesting update for Kelly or Kaylie or Kylie. A famous bearer is actress Keeley Hawes.

A funkier version of Coco that may be more appealing if you have Japanese or Native American heritage. Koko comes from the Blackfoot tribe, native to what is now Montana and Alberta, Canada.

Murakami's Kafka on the Shore features a character named after the famous Czech author of The Metamorphoses.

Kenny might be all South Park to some, but it has been in steady use in the US since the 1930s.

Kiana (or more appropriately, Quiana) is the original polyester name, now falling fast out of favor.

In Turkish mythology, Kayra is the deity of creation. The ancient Turks did not assign a gender to Kayra, who took the form of a goose. According to legend, Kayra planted the tree of life after creating the universe, from which emerged the nine clans.

An appealing Hawaiian name with a lovely meaning and vibrant sound – reminiscent of rising Hawaiian stars Kai, Koa and Kainoa. It derives from the words ke "the" and aloha "love". Keahloha is also a common Hawaiian surname.

The lilting name of a range of mythical mountains, with an extensive menu of spellings, and a more unusual way of fitting in with current favorites Lila and Lola.

An update of Tyson for parents who prefer the Ky nickname to Ty. It was the middle name of a character on Heroes.

Jason with a K or Kase with an N or Karson without the R. Kason is one of many similar names that are extremely popular right now.

Kalani is a rhythmic name that can be used for either gender though it is predominantly used on girls in the US. With its celestial meaning, and cool K beginning, it only entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2015. Now in the Top 400, it joins Kai and Leilani as popular choices with Hawaiian origins.

This punchy surname has some favor in the last couple of decades—potentially due to rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was one of the quickest rising boy names in 2013 when it reached its high point at #318. It has since declined in popularity, but as of 2023, it remains in the US Top 500 and in the UK Top 1000.

Kinsey enjoyed popularity blip thanks to similarity to Lindsay, and because of Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries heroine, Kinsey Millhone. Now, Kinsley has become more popular than Kinsey.

Poetic and easier to pronounce (it's keets) than Yeats (which is yates). This one of many poets' names to consider, such as Auden, Eliot, Frost, Byron, Lorca, Marlowe, Blake, Emerson and Tennyson, which was used by Russell Crowe.

Traditionally given to the ninth-born son, which is a rarity nowadays.

Kaleb is one of several boys' names starting with k that started life as a classic C name, Caleb. Kevin Federline named his boy Kaleb Michael Jackson.

As a feminine name, Kiko is Japanese in origin. One possible meaning is "hope child," but different kanji combinations will yield alternate meanings.

Kensington is a place name with a number of referents; there are cities by the name in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the UK, and the US. As a girls' name, it entered the US Top 1000 in 2015, likely as a fresher way to get to nickname Kensie/Kenzie than Mackenzie, Mckenzie, or Makenzie.

Contrary to popular belief, the name Kahlo has German origins, rather than Spanish. It derives from kahl, a German word meaning "bald." Mexican Artist Frida Kahlo was born to a German father, photographer Guillermo Kahlo.

The American appetite for boys names starting with the Kay-sound seems unlimited: Think Cason, Kaison, Caiden, Kayden... and Kace. Which somehow hit the Top 1000 for the first time in 2017 and hung on until 2021.