# Kenji (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kenji/  
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 | Japanese |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 5,657 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5,624 / 33 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 160, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese けんじ (Kenji).

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 6 | 8,479 |
| 1978 | 7 | 8,044 |
| 1980 | 8 | 7,747 |
| 2002 | 5 | 16,818 |
| 2009 | 7 | 14,486 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 147 | 1,204 |
| 2012 | 124 | 1,364 |
| 2013 | 125 | 1,358 |
| 2014 | 96 | 1,620 |
| 2015 | 122 | 1,410 |
| 2016 | 125 | 1,409 |
| 2017 | 137 | 1,319 |
| 2018 | 141 | 1,296 |
| 2019 | 156 | 1,222 |
| 2020 | 245 | 913 |
| 2021 | 281 | 847 |
| 2022 | 337 | 754 |
| 2023 | 296 | 828 |
| 2024 | 284 | 856 |
| 2025 | 249 | 944 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 5 | 3,300 |
| 2012 | 9 | 2,270 |
| 2013 | 7 | 2,660 |
| 2014 | 6 | 2,964 |
| 2015 | 6 | 3,004 |
| 2016 | 10 | 2,175 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4,812 |
| 2018 | 5 | 3,412 |
| 2019 | 8 | 2,488 |
| 2020 | 13 | 1,723 |
| 2021 | 10 | 2,125 |
| 2022 | 16 | 1,534 |
| 2023 | 12 | 1,906 |
| 2024 | 9 | 2,443 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2,269 |

## People named Kenji

- Kenji Gorré, Curacaoan footballer
- Kenji Miyamoto, Communist leader (1908–2007)
- Kenji Miyamoto, figure skater
- Mike Shinoda, American musician, rapper, singer and songwriter

## 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.