# Kanye (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kanye/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Igbo |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɑnjeɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 1,428 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,404 / 24 (2% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 145, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Evidently from Igbo Kanye, although inspiration from other African languages may have contributed. The verb is a reference to Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 19 | 6,357 |
| 2005 | 5 | 17,797 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 35 | 3,208 |
| 2012 | 35 | 3,206 |
| 2013 | 40 | 2,871 |
| 2014 | 22 | 4,463 |
| 2015 | 27 | 3,936 |
| 2016 | 17 | 5,430 |
| 2017 | 13 | 6,495 |
| 2018 | 13 | 6,531 |
| 2019 | 7 | 10,290 |
| 2020 | 5 | 13,076 |
| 2021 | 12 | 6,898 |
| 2022 | 14 | 6,317 |
| 2023 | 13 | 6,715 |
| 2024 | 14 | 6,331 |
| 2025 | 5 | 12,964 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 40 | 599 |
| 2005 | 32 | 766 |
| 2006 | 21 | 1,048 |
| 2007 | 8 | 2,211 |
| 2008 | 14 | 1,511 |
| 2009 | 8 | 2,318 |
| 2010 | 4 | 3,865 |
| 2012 | 8 | 2,458 |
| 2014 | 4 | 3,895 |
| 2015 | 3 | 4,747 |
| 2021 | 3 | 4,789 |

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.