Help end medical misogyny. Sign our petition.

Help end medical misogyny.
Sign our petition.

Sign the petition

Please or to access all these features

Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Are there any K names that are not tacky?

399 replies

JCes · Yesterday 13:00

Are there any feminine K names that are more traditional and old-fashioned? I really dislike modern and trendy sounding names. I also dislike C names that have recently been turned into K names. The Kylie, Kaylee, Kadence, Kallie, Kinley, Kaitlyn, Krystal, Karly, Khloe, Kenzie type of names are not for me. They're all very similar in style to me, and I just find them to be tacky. They also feel very mean girl/bully. (This won't make sense to everyone, but I'm sure some will know what I mean.)

An example of a name that I do like is Katherine, but there are simply too many in the family. I also like just plain Kay, but it seems a bit underwhelming as a first name. It's more often a middle name and shortening of other K names. Karen is no longer a possibility for obvious reasons...

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
FreddysFingers · Today 21:59

Katherine?

AgnesMcDoo · Today 21:59

Kathryn
Katie / Kate
Kirsten / Kirsteen
Katrina (although I prefer Catriona)
Kitty

Violinorbanjo · Today 22:00

Wait, Kalina
Kalena
Karintia
Krisantis

KTMeetsTheRsUptown · Today 22:04

Kassidy or Kaelen

KathLeanne · Today 22:06

Kathleen 😊

Garfieldloveslasagnepie · Today 22:11

Karis
Karlene
Kathryn

PrettyPickle · Today 22:13

Katherine
Katharine
Kathryn
Katrina
Katerina
Katia / Katya
Karen
Kara / Cara (Kara counts as the K‑version of the older name Cara)
Keziah (Biblical)
Kirsten
Kirsty
Kirstin
Katherine‑Anne / Katharine‑Rose (double‑barrelled classics)
Kerensa (Cornish, meaning “love”)
Kendra (Old English roots)
Kezia / Kezia (Biblical)
Kalliope / Calliope (Greek myth — K‑spelling is traditional in Greece)
Kyna (meaning “wise”, older Irish root)
Keelin (from Caoilfhionn, meaning “slender and fair”)
Keavy (from Caoimhe, meaning “gentle, precious”)

CombatBarbie · Today 22:15

Kelly, Kaiya, Kate, Kerry

Coco1379 · Today 22:30

Kirsty, Katy

ClearlyNoIdea · Today 22:32

I heard one today. Met with a friend whose sister has just had a baby and her name was Kyah. She pronounced it Ky(like sky without the s) a.
Never heard it before but I thought it was pretty.

lonelylou09 · Today 22:34

What about Keeva? It's Irish and spelt Caoimhe. It means gentle, beautiful and beloved.

Piglet89 · Today 22:42

Khachaturian.

Kasparov.

That’s it.

RafaFan · Today 22:42

Just thought if another one to add to my list of K names of women I know (Kanchana, Keltie, Kenda) ....Kirsteen. Think it might have been a seventies variation on Kirsty though.

ThistleTits · Today 22:50

@JCes Kitty, from Katherine.

Markovenchip · Today 22:55

Krystal, Kiki

SkinnyOatFlatWhiteForMePleaseBarista · Today 22:59

Katie
Kirsty
Keeley (Hawes)

Fiddy1964 · Today 23:00

Katriona
Krazee
Kelma
Kizzy
Kru
Kizandra

Mumtobabyhavoc · Today 23:01

I had an aunt Kay. She was a bitch. Anywho...

Anglicized Keeva for the gorgeous and properly Irish name Caoimhe as upthread. 🩷

Sofakingfunny · Today 23:02
  • Katherine – timeless and elegant
  • Katharine – traditional spelling used by several historical figures
  • Kathleen – Irish classic
  • Kate – simple, strong, and traditional
  • Katie – traditionally a diminutive of Katherine
  • Kitty – a Victorian nickname for Katherine
  • Kirsten – Scandinavian classic
  • Kristina – traditional European name
  • Katrina – Scottish form of Katherine
  • Katriona – traditional Scottish Gaelic name
  • Kerensa – old Cornish name meaning “love”
  • Kezia – biblical name from the Old Testament
  • Keziah – another biblical spelling, quite Victorian
  • Kyra – ancient Greek/Persian roots
  • Kimberley – originally an English place name, used as a girl’s name since the 1800s
welyjiwjiw · Today 23:08

Kayla, kora, kenzie, Kendra, kylie

Littleroundsponge · Today 23:12

Kate, Katie, Kelsey, Katrina, Katarina, Kathleen, Kathy, Keira, Kathryn, Keeley, Kayleigh

childoftkty · Today 23:20

Keren, Karin, Kayla, Kyla

Volpini · Today 23:22

My own name has shown up on this thread a number of times (not going to say which it is as too identifying) but I’m astonished anyone would countenance using it - I hate it and it’s so identifiably stuck in the 70s (in the same way of Karen/ Sharon.)
I struggle to think of any K names I like - again, most are very 70s/80s names.
The only ones I actually like are Kit/ Kitty.
The rest are a hard no.

Bowies · Today 23:28

Another for Kathleen, could abbreviate Kitty for a young DC (assuming all the family Katherine’s aren’t called Kitty!)

New posts on this thread. Refresh page