Recorded 1920–2025 · United States
Kerry was most popular in 1960, when 3,127 American babies were given the name — ranking #261 that year. In 2025 it ranked #4,226, with 77 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 98,644 people named Kerry.
Kerry first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1920, which makes it about 105 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 106 of the 106 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 98,644 American births named Kerry 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 83,843 are estimated to be alive today.
77 American babies were named Kerry in 2025, ranking #4,226 that year.
Kerry is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 62 births a year, against 95 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -34% 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 Kerry is a unisex name — 49.3% of the 98,644 Americans given it were girls and 50.7% were boys. It changed hands: since 2003 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 29% girls and 71% 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 83,843 Americans named Kerry are alive today — 85% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 57 years old, and half are between 47 and 65.
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 Kerry on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org