Kelsey is an English surname taken from villages in Lincolnshire; the place name is usually explained as "Cenel's island", with Cenel being an Old English personal name meaning "fierce". It became a girls' name in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, when surnames like Lindsey and Whitney were in fashion. Kelsey was a top 100 name in 2000 at number 88 and has fallen steadily since to number 814 in 2025.