Ken
Ken was given to 36 boys in 2025, #3,276 among boys’ names; 33,043 Americans have been recorded with it since 1900 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 23,300 Americans named Ken and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (71% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 55 and 68.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ken by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ken mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ken is “a diminutive of the male given name Kenneth.”
/kɛn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ken?
#3,276 among boys’ names, 2025
Ken fell from #1,760 in 2015 to #3,276 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 45.4 to 21.1 per million.
1,780 babies in 1960, the peak
Ken peaked in 1960, when 1,780 babies were given it (1,775 boys, #177 among boys’ names). The 36 births of 2025 are 2% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 36 | #3,276 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 36 | #3,306 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 37 | #3,258 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 50 | #2,658 | 0.03 |
| 2021 | 52 | #2,541 | 0.03 |
| 2020 | 56 | #2,382 | 0.03 |
| 2019 | 51 | #2,567 | 0.03 |
| 2018 | 62 | #2,218 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 63 | #2,161 | 0.03 |
| 2016 | 90 | #1,733 | 0.05 |
Every recorded year (117)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 87 | #1,760 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 85 | #1,774 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 75 | #1,889 | 0.04 |
| 2012 | 107 | #1,509 | 0.06 |
| 2011 | 88 | #1,695 | 0.05 |
| 2010 | 68 | #2,026 | 0.04 |
| 2009 | 104 | #1,569 | 0.05 |
| 2008 | 108 | #1,511 | 0.05 |
| 2007 | 120 | #1,378 | 0.06 |
| 2006 | 135 | #1,244 | 0.07 |
| 2005 | 117 | #1,304 | 0.06 |
| 2004 | 153 | #1,054 | 0.08 |
| 2003 | 110 | #1,287 | 0.06 |
| 2002 | 134 | #1,094 | 0.07 |
| 2001 | 124 | #1,130 | 0.06 |
| 2000 | 123 | #1,132 | 0.06 |
| 1999 | 119 | #1,115 | 0.06 |
| 1998 | 104 | #1,190 | 0.05 |
| 1997 | 125 | #1,019 | 0.07 |
| 1996 | 119 | #1,033 | 0.06 |
| 1995 | 126 | #989 | 0.07 |
| 1994 | 112 | #1,051 | 0.06 |
| 1993 | 104 | #1,096 | 0.05 |
| 1992 | 113 | #1,029 | 0.06 |
| 1991 | 127 | #938 | 0.06 |
| 1990 | 142 | #854 | 0.07 |
| 1989 | 138 | #855 | 0.07 |
| 1988 | 111 | #907 | 0.06 |
| 1987 | 126 | #830 | 0.07 |
| 1986 | 102 | #908 | 0.06 |
| 1985 | 113 | #850 | 0.06 |
| 1984 | 116 | #813 | 0.06 |
| 1983 | 105 | #856 | 0.06 |
| 1982 | 134 | #761 | 0.07 |
| 1981 | 145 | #718 | 0.08 |
| 1980 | 141 | #739 | 0.08 |
| 1979 | 119 | #795 | 0.07 |
| 1978 | 137 | #718 | 0.08 |
| 1977 | 124 | #764 | 0.08 |
| 1976 | 137 | #716 | 0.09 |
| 1975 | 156 | #660 | 0.10 |
| 1974 | 202 | #564 | 0.13 |
| 1973 | 232 | #515 | 0.15 |
| 1972 | 287 | #465 | 0.18 |
| 1971 | 363 | #425 | 0.21 |
| 1970 | 486 | #369 | 0.26 |
| 1969 | 494 | #356 | 0.28 |
| 1968 | 601 | #306 | 0.35 |
| 1967 | 650 | #284 | 0.37 |
| 1966 | 820 | #252 | 0.46 |
| 1965 | 1,100 | #218 | 0.59 |
| 1964 | 1,475 | #192 | 0.74 |
| 1963 | 1,634 | #178 | 0.80 |
| 1962 | 1,684 | #181 | 0.81 |
| 1961 | 1,665 | #188 | 0.78 |
| 1960 | 1,775 | #177 | 0.83 |
| 1959 | 1,653 | #182 | 0.77 |
| 1958 | 1,533 | #185 | 0.72 |
| 1957 | 1,178 | #221 | 0.55 |
| 1956 | 657 | #285 | 0.31 |
| 1955 | 439 | #344 | 0.21 |
| 1954 | 370 | #366 | 0.18 |
| 1953 | 317 | #393 | 0.16 |
| 1952 | 321 | #381 | 0.17 |
| 1951 | 296 | #394 | 0.16 |
| 1950 | 347 | #361 | 0.19 |
| 1949 | 456 | #322 | 0.26 |
| 1948 | 622 | #261 | 0.35 |
| 1947 | 707 | #247 | 0.39 |
| 1946 | 684 | #227 | 0.42 |
| 1945 | 479 | #272 | 0.36 |
| 1944 | 427 | #287 | 0.31 |
| 1943 | 444 | #294 | 0.31 |
| 1942 | 407 | #302 | 0.29 |
| 1941 | 345 | #312 | 0.28 |
| 1940 | 303 | #327 | 0.26 |
| 1939 | 276 | #335 | 0.25 |
| 1938 | 252 | #349 | 0.23 |
| 1937 | 203 | #385 | 0.19 |
| 1936 | 211 | #376 | 0.20 |
| 1935 | 167 | #440 | 0.16 |
| 1934 | 152 | #457 | 0.15 |
| 1933 | 108 | #553 | 0.11 |
| 1932 | 127 | #511 | 0.12 |
| 1931 | 95 | #607 | 0.09 |
| 1930 | 76 | #728 | 0.07 |
| 1929 | 57 | #880 | 0.05 |
| 1928 | 34 | #1,242 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 48 | #1,018 | 0.04 |
| 1926 | 54 | #925 | 0.05 |
| 1925 | 39 | #1,134 | 0.03 |
| 1924 | 34 | #1,260 | 0.03 |
| 1923 | 30 | #1,345 | 0.03 |
| 1922 | 29 | #1,382 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 23 | #1,615 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 32 | #1,292 | 0.03 |
| 1919 | 19 | #1,780 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 17 | #1,950 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 21 | #1,617 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 17 | #1,811 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 20 | #1,580 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,040 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 10 | #1,880 | 0.02 |
| 1912 | 14 | #1,317 | 0.03 |
| 1911 | 6 | #1,644 | 0.03 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,729 | 0.03 |
| 1900 | 7 | #1,111 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Ken a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Ken has been given almost only to boys: 30 girls in 117 years of records.
Girls and boys named Ken: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ken, and how old are they?
23,300 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 71% of the 33,043 Americans ever recorded as Ken. The median Ken alive today is 63 years old; half are between 55 and 68.
The 2020 Census counted 69,582 people named Ken (509 women and girls, 69,073 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 25,485 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.7 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Ken rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,140 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 12,600 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 5,200 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,840 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,810 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 774 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Ken born?
The states with the most babies named Ken are California, Illinois and Michigan, with 35% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 6,047 | #1,922 | 2.0× |
| Illinois | 1,912 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 1,865 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Texas | 1,623 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| New York | 1,538 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 1,487 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Washington | 1,217 | not ranked | 2.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 851 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Indiana | 798 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Wisconsin | 681 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Ken is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ken is most over-represented in Hawaii: since 1910 it was given 2.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Ken with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 59,024 babies since 1880, Ken is the most given (56% of them). In 2025 it was given to 36 of their 466 babies (7.7%), the fifth most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Ken
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Ken and names like it
- Compare Ken and KeonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sKen peaked in 1960.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ken since 1910.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Ken.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Ken alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with KMost given first.