The Kinsey surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 16,102 people carried this name — #2,258 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 18,300 people counted. That is up 5% from 15,357 in 2000.

See Kinsey on the map Look up another surname

Share

What the name means

The meaning of the Kinsey surname

From Old English personal name Cynesige, from cyne- (“royal”) + siġe (“victory”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Kinsey» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Kilnsea’.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 454 · public domain.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Kinsey was found among the farmers of Cheshire: 39 in every 10,000.

Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Cheshire 39

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

53 families named Kinsey, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 321 people lived in those households, 6.1 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 7 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Pennsylvania 31
North Carolina 14
Virginia 3
South Carolina 3
Maryland 2

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 248 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Kinsey in American newspapers,
1913–1921.

Newspaper page from The Ekalaka Eagle carrying the name Kinsey
The Ekalaka Eagle 1914-09-25
Newspaper page from The Ekalaka Eagle carrying the name Kinsey
The Ekalaka Eagle 1913-03-28
Newspaper page from Great Falls Tribune carrying the name Kinsey
Great Falls Tribune 1921-09-16

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 59,440 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Kinsey in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1990s.

3,277 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kinsey. The most, 821, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Victoria, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 1,381
Victoria 1,062
Queensland 458
South Australia 232
Western Australia 67
Tasmania 45
ACT (Canberra) 20
Northern Territory 6

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kinsey.

Who carried it

People named Kinsey,
with a public archive behind them.

  • James Kinsey
    James Kinsey 1731–1803 · judge
  • William Medcalf Kinsey
    William Medcalf Kinsey 1846–1931 · judge
  • Capt William Kinsey d. 1823
  • Grace Hull 1672–1752
  • Peter Kinsey 1725–
  • Charles Kinsey 1773–1849 · judge

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Kinsey,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States1,020 records

1,020 records of the Kinsey name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 486
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 181
  • Other U.S. records 353
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Eddie B. Kinsey

    Born 1917 in Georgia. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Jay Governors Island, New York; driver. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2000, buried at Calverton National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Michael Christopher Kinsey

    Born 1948; from Star, Texas. U.S. Marine Corps, rifleman; killed in action 1968 in Thua Thien, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Kinsey

    Arrived at New York in 1852 aboard the Princeton from Liverpool, aged 20; domestic. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 1,020 records for Kinsey in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia139 records

139 records of the Kinsey name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 69
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 28
  • Other Australian records 42
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Jonothan Kinsey

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Admiral Gambier, arriving 1811.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Susannah Kinsey

    Arrived in Queensland in 1887 aboard the Almora, aged 23.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Joseph J. Kinsey

    Knight bachelor of New Zealand, Victoria; died 1936.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 139 records for Kinsey in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada14 records

14 records of the Kinsey name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 6
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 2
  • Other Canadian records 6
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Catherine C. Kinsey

    Died 1920; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Charles H. Kinsey

    Died 1896 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record James Roy Lance Kinsey

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 14 records for Kinsey in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom12 records

12 records of the Kinsey name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 9
  • Welsh wills index cards 2
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record James Kinsey

    Will proved in 1926; of Brecon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Elizabeth Kinsey

    Buried in 1791 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 40.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. H. Kinsey

    Gunner, Yeomanry. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 12 records for Kinsey in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand3 records

3 records of the Kinsey name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Stephen John Kinsey

    Died 1922, aged 42; buried at Sydenham Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Emma Constance Kinsey

    Died 1946; buried at Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 3 records for Kinsey in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Kinsey.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Kinsey is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Kinsey volume
Scroll to Top