Recorded 1952–2025 · United States
Kenya was most popular in 1973, when 1,039 American babies were given the name — ranking #459 that year. In 2025 it ranked #4,430, with 71 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 27,553 people named Kenya.
Kenya first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1952, which makes it about 73 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 73 of the 74 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 27,553 American births named Kenya 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 26,723 are estimated to be alive today.
71 American babies were named Kenya in 2025, ranking #4,430 that year.
Kenya is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 133 births a year, against 427 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -69% 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 Kenya is mostly a girl’s name — 92.2% of the 27,553 Americans given it were girls and 7.8% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 98% girls and 2% 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 26,723 Americans named Kenya are alive today — 97% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 33 years old, and half are between 20 and 48.
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 Kenya on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org