Khalil

What Khalil means

Means “friend”

Borrowed from Arabic خَلِيل (ḵalīl, “friend”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Khalil” (revision 91672566), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Khalil?

US: Rising: up from #479 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #719 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2020, when 1,233 boys got the name (#274 that year). First in the US records in 1957.

How common

• About 1 in 2,068 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,124 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (3.96 per 1,000 boys), MS (2.68 per 1,000 boys), LA (1.83 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Khalil is #384 in the US and #331 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Khalil were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Khaleel35 US · 32 E&W
• Khalel6 US
• Khalyl5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Khalil

Boys

• Zayn#251“beauty”^*
• Khalid#940“immortal; glorious; eternal”^*
• Hamza#541“lion”^*
• Ali#306“high, exalted”^*
• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Nasir#486Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #486 vs #2,133 in 2025

For a sister

• Alia#587Feminine form of Ali, meaning “high, exalted”^*
• Salem#435Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,425 in 2015, #435 in 2025
• Noor#659“light”^*
• Aliyah#263“ascent”^*
• Aaliyah#101Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1976, with 18 babies
• Zahra#538Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1973, with 8 babies

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Khalil’s. Rank is US 2025.