Recorded 1947–2025 · United States
Kenan was most popular in 2024, when 187 American babies were given the name — ranking #2,339 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,332, with 184 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,675 people named Kenan.
Kenan first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1947, which makes it about 78 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 73 of the 79 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,675 American births named Kenan between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 4,539 are estimated to be alive today.
184 American babies were named Kenan in 2025, ranking #2,332 that year.
Kenan is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 163 births a year, against 102 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +60% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Kenan is a boy’s name — 0.6% of the 4,675 Americans given it were girls and 99.4% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 4,539 Americans named Kenan are alive today — 97% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 19 years old, and half are between 8 and 29.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Kenan on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org