# Ken (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ken/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /kɛn/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 33,043 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 33,013 / 30 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 187, 1996 to 2025 |

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 5 | 6,820 |
| 1961 | 5 | 7,037 |
| 1962 | 5 | 7,034 |
| 1970 | 5 | 8,622 |
| 1975 | 5 | 9,750 |
| 1990 | 5 | 14,062 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 88 | 1,695 |
| 2012 | 107 | 1,509 |
| 2013 | 75 | 1,890 |
| 2014 | 85 | 1,774 |
| 2015 | 87 | 1,760 |
| 2016 | 90 | 1,733 |
| 2017 | 63 | 2,162 |
| 2018 | 62 | 2,219 |
| 2019 | 51 | 2,568 |
| 2020 | 56 | 2,383 |
| 2021 | 52 | 2,542 |
| 2022 | 50 | 2,659 |
| 2023 | 37 | 3,260 |
| 2024 | 36 | 3,308 |
| 2025 | 36 | 3,277 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 9 | 2,097 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,227 |
| 2010 | 9 | 2,199 |
| 2011 | 6 | 2,892 |
| 2012 | 8 | 2,458 |
| 2013 | 3 | 4,685 |
| 2014 | 3 | 4,632 |
| 2015 | 13 | 1,786 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4,812 |
| 2018 | 3 | 4,749 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3,848 |
| 2021 | 3 | 4,789 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,001 |
| 2023 | 5 | 3,523 |
| 2025 | 6 | 3,256 |

## People named Ken

- Ken Kesey, American novelist (1935–2001)
- Ken Livingstone, English politician (born 1945); Mayor of London from 2000 until 2008
- Ken Page, American actor (1954–2024)
- Ken Russell, British film director (1927–2011)
- Ken Mattingly, American astronaut
- Ken Leung, American actor
- Ken Burns, American documentarian and filmmaker (born 1953)
- Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis player
- Ken Berry, American actor (1933–2018)
- Ken Wilber, American writer and public speaker
- Ken Norton, American boxer (1943-2013)
- Ken Anderson, American professional wrestler and actor

## 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.