KYLE, Texas — Kyle will have to wait a while to set a world record.
The city of Kyle, Texas, came up short in its attempt to set a world record for the largest same first-name gathering, KXAN-TV reported. By a mile. Actually, only 835 names short.
According to an official count and recount of all registrants, city officials said 1,490 Kyles attended the “Gathering of the Kyles” at the annual Kyle Fair A Tex-Travaganza, KVUE-TV reported.
City officials said it was the fourth time that the Texas city, located south of the capital city of Austin, had attempted to break the world record. Kyles from 49 of the 50 states in the U.S. registered to attend the event.
We thank the many Kyles that turned out for this event & were blown away by their enthusiasm & camaraderie in #KyleTX's 4th & most successful attempt at this record.
— City of Kyle (@CityofKyleTX) May 22, 2023
We hope even more Kyles join us next year, when we once again attempt to break the record at the 2024 Kyle Fair.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the current world mark for the largest first-name gathering was set in Kupreski Kosci in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On July 30, 2017, 2,325 people named “Ivan” assembled.
Kyle Peters, of Los Angeles, told KXAN that he heard about the event after friends sent him social media posts. He said he liked the Texas town that bears his name.
It’s a really charming little town,” Peters told the television station. “I grew up with seven other Kyles. So I do have some experience with this. I didn’t really get to go by my first name a lot as a kid.”
Hawaii resident Kyle Sasaki, who traveled from Honolulu for this year’s event, said it was the first time he had been around so many people with his name.
“People will just yell out ‘Kyle,’ and I’ll just automatically turn,” Sasaki told KXAN. “Of course everyone’s named Kyle, so it’s really funny. So yeah, it’s just great to see just, I don’t know, the diversity of Kyles.”
City officials want all those Kyles who attended this year’s event to file away this bit of information: There will be another attempt to break the world record at next year’s Kyle Fair A Tex-Travaganza, KVUE reported.