# Kent (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kent/  
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 | Latin |
| Meaning | “gathering”, “folkmoot”, “hillock”, “corner”, “rim” |
| Pronunciation | /kɛnt/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 69,493 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 69,322 / 171 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 82, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Kent, from Old English Cent, from Latin Cantium, from Brythonic *Cantio (compare Old Irish céite (“gathering, folkmoot, hillock”)), from Proto-Celtic *kantos (“corner, rim”).

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 5 | 7,036 |
| 1963 | 9 | 4,696 |
| 1964 | 8 | 5,213 |
| 1965 | 8 | 5,046 |
| 1966 | 12 | 3,833 |
| 1967 | 10 | 4,444 |
| 1968 | 6 | 6,601 |
| 1970 | 6 | 7,485 |
| 1971 | 10 | 5,293 |
| 1972 | 5 | 8,865 |
| 1974 | 5 | 9,396 |
| 1981 | 5 | 11,200 |
| 1982 | 6 | 9,789 |
| 1983 | 5 | 11,073 |
| 1984 | 5 | 11,225 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 132 | 1,300 |
| 2012 | 114 | 1,453 |
| 2013 | 161 | 1,132 |
| 2014 | 149 | 1,227 |
| 2015 | 157 | 1,184 |
| 2016 | 164 | 1,164 |
| 2017 | 140 | 1,297 |
| 2018 | 157 | 1,201 |
| 2019 | 122 | 1,438 |
| 2020 | 121 | 1,432 |
| 2021 | 130 | 1,415 |
| 2022 | 116 | 1,545 |
| 2023 | 102 | 1,676 |
| 2024 | 104 | 1,636 |
| 2025 | 101 | 1,659 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 6 | 1,889 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3,134 |
| 2002 | 6 | 2,005 |
| 2003 | 5 | 2,470 |
| 2005 | 3 | 3,849 |
| 2006 | 3 | 4,052 |
| 2007 | 4 | 3,589 |
| 2008 | 5 | 3,158 |
| 2010 | 4 | 3,865 |
| 2011 | 4 | 3,830 |
| 2012 | 3 | 4,805 |
| 2013 | 6 | 2,954 |
| 2014 | 6 | 2,964 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4,812 |
| 2018 | 4 | 3,959 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: كنت
- Bulgarian: Кент
- Catalan: Kent
- Chinese: 肯特郡
- French: Kent
- Georgian: კენტი
- German: Kent
- Greek: Κεντ
- Hindi: केंट
- Italian: Kent
- Japanese: ケント
- Korean: 켄트
- Latin: Cantium, Cantia
- Latvian: Kenta
- Lithuanian: Kentas
- Polish: Kent
- Portuguese: Kent
- Russian: Кент
- Spanish: Kent
- Swedish: Kent

## People named Kent

- Kent Beck, American software engineer
- Kent Nielsen, Danish footballer
- Kent Conrad, American politician (born 1948)
- Kent Bazemore, American basketball player
- Kent Hovind, American Christian fundamentalist and Young Earth Creationist
- Kent McCord, American actor
- Kent Nagano, American conductor (1951-)
- Kent Taylor, American actor (1907–1987)
- Kent Benson, American basketball player (born 1954)
- Elisha Kent Kane, American explorer and military medical officer (1820–1857)
- Kent Smith, American actor (1907–1985)
- Kent Mitchell, American rower

## 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.