Kyle is a Scottish name taken from the region of Kyle in Ayrshire and from the Gaelic caol, which means "narrow strait" or "channel". It was one of the signature boys' names of the 1980s and 1990s in America, sitting in the top 50 for two decades. Kyle was still number 37 in 2000 but has dropped out of the top 100 and down to number 509 in 2025.