Kelsie

Kelsie is an Americanized respelling of Kelsey – a surname turned first name which was originally more popular for baby boys. As Kelsey became more common for girls in the United States, American parents adopted the cutesy “-ie” suffix and respelled the name to make it look even more youthful and girly. The English surname Kelsey ultimately originated from an ancient personal name Cēolsige created from the Olde English elements “cēol” (ship) and “sige” (victory). The first recorded spelling of the name, Keleseye, was from Lincolnshire in the 13th century; although the original masculine personal name dates back to pre 7th century England. There are towns in Lincolnshire named Kelsey to this day, located in northeastern England near the Scottish border. It is most likely that the personal name was given to a skillful shipman that sailed this coast off the North Sea or at least one who was involved in ship-building. Kelsey as a given name has been used for both males and females, so we’d consider it unisex although American parents of baby girls have hijacked the name and made it more female in the 21st century.