Kasey

Kasey is an Americanized version of Casey derived from an Old Irish personal name “Cathasach” which is Gaelic for “vigilant” (particularly when at war). It has been quietly and commonly used in Ireland for centuries, and then jumped the Irish borders to the United States thanks to an early 20th century melody called “The Ballad of Casey Jones” which told the story of a brave locomotive engineer’s collision with another freight train (sacrificing his own life in the interest of saving another). This well-known ballad raised Casey Jones to levels of folk hero status across America, and his name went along for the train ride. A lot of Gaelic names that start with a C often get anglicized (or Americanized) with a K; so we weren’t surprised to see some American parents spell Casey like Kasey. Both forms of this name have been used on both genders in the United States, but more recently Kasey with a “K” has become more exclusively female. Casey is more popular for boys than for girls but is used freely on either gender.