Kenny
Kenny was given to 155 boys in 2025, #1,271 among boys’ names; 52,479 Americans have been recorded with it since 1908 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 41,900 Americans named Kenny and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (80% of everyone recorded); the median is 50 years old and half are between 30 and 65.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Kenny by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Kenny mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Kenny is “a diminutive of the male given name Kenneth.”
From Kenneth or Ken + -y (diminutive form).
/ˈkɛni/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Kenny?
#1,271 among boys’ names, 2025
Kenny fell from #893 in 2015 to #1,271 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.13 to 0.09 per 1,000.
1,949 babies in 1960, the peak
Kenny peaked in 1960, when 1,949 babies were given it (1,934 boys, #169 among boys’ names). The 161 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 8% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 155 | #1,271 | 0.09 |
| 2024 | 140 | #1,357 | 0.08 |
| 2023 | 162 | #1,223 | 0.09 |
| 2022 | 160 | #1,234 | 0.09 |
| 2021 | 158 | #1,221 | 0.09 |
| 2020 | 182 | #1,089 | 0.11 |
| 2019 | 257 | #863 | 0.14 |
| 2018 | 207 | #1,001 | 0.11 |
| 2017 | 217 | #959 | 0.12 |
| 2016 | 242 | #898 | 0.13 |
Every recorded year (116)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 247 | #893 | 0.13 |
| 2014 | 265 | #846 | 0.14 |
| 2013 | 283 | #795 | 0.15 |
| 2012 | 310 | #746 | 0.16 |
| 2011 | 328 | #701 | 0.17 |
| 2010 | 385 | #631 | 0.20 |
| 2009 | 404 | #618 | 0.20 |
| 2008 | 493 | #537 | 0.24 |
| 2007 | 522 | #507 | 0.25 |
| 2006 | 521 | #497 | 0.25 |
| 2005 | 555 | #462 | 0.28 |
| 2004 | 520 | #481 | 0.26 |
| 2003 | 527 | #477 | 0.27 |
| 2002 | 550 | #448 | 0.28 |
| 2001 | 511 | #465 | 0.26 |
| 2000 | 566 | #431 | 0.29 |
| 1999 | 513 | #447 | 0.27 |
| 1998 | 458 | #478 | 0.24 |
| 1997 | 555 | #417 | 0.29 |
| 1996 | 569 | #408 | 0.30 |
| 1995 | 574 | #399 | 0.30 |
| 1994 | 602 | #387 | 0.31 |
| 1993 | 570 | #406 | 0.29 |
| 1992 | 505 | #437 | 0.25 |
| 1991 | 452 | #465 | 0.22 |
| 1990 | 516 | #430 | 0.25 |
| 1989 | 556 | #394 | 0.28 |
| 1988 | 506 | #392 | 0.26 |
| 1987 | 539 | #362 | 0.29 |
| 1986 | 541 | #349 | 0.29 |
| 1985 | 573 | #335 | 0.31 |
| 1984 | 528 | #350 | 0.29 |
| 1983 | 548 | #337 | 0.31 |
| 1982 | 598 | #319 | 0.33 |
| 1981 | 633 | #303 | 0.35 |
| 1980 | 574 | #330 | 0.32 |
| 1979 | 493 | #358 | 0.29 |
| 1978 | 431 | #372 | 0.26 |
| 1977 | 402 | #393 | 0.24 |
| 1976 | 417 | #376 | 0.27 |
| 1975 | 354 | #410 | 0.23 |
| 1974 | 448 | #365 | 0.28 |
| 1973 | 470 | #356 | 0.30 |
| 1972 | 501 | #344 | 0.31 |
| 1971 | 605 | #311 | 0.34 |
| 1970 | 668 | #302 | 0.36 |
| 1969 | 676 | #289 | 0.38 |
| 1968 | 751 | #265 | 0.43 |
| 1967 | 820 | #246 | 0.47 |
| 1966 | 928 | #232 | 0.52 |
| 1965 | 1,103 | #217 | 0.59 |
| 1964 | 1,403 | #200 | 0.70 |
| 1963 | 1,453 | #203 | 0.72 |
| 1962 | 1,594 | #189 | 0.77 |
| 1961 | 1,701 | #179 | 0.80 |
| 1960 | 1,934 | #169 | 0.91 |
| 1959 | 1,763 | #174 | 0.83 |
| 1958 | 1,422 | #197 | 0.67 |
| 1957 | 1,073 | #231 | 0.50 |
| 1956 | 803 | #255 | 0.38 |
| 1955 | 689 | #272 | 0.33 |
| 1954 | 571 | #301 | 0.28 |
| 1953 | 512 | #316 | 0.26 |
| 1952 | 555 | #301 | 0.29 |
| 1951 | 487 | #317 | 0.26 |
| 1950 | 514 | #299 | 0.29 |
| 1949 | 544 | #291 | 0.31 |
| 1948 | 617 | #265 | 0.35 |
| 1947 | 692 | #251 | 0.38 |
| 1946 | 609 | #254 | 0.37 |
| 1945 | 520 | #253 | 0.39 |
| 1944 | 467 | #276 | 0.34 |
| 1943 | 434 | #295 | 0.30 |
| 1942 | 400 | #307 | 0.29 |
| 1941 | 345 | #313 | 0.28 |
| 1940 | 317 | #316 | 0.27 |
| 1939 | 285 | #326 | 0.26 |
| 1938 | 223 | #378 | 0.20 |
| 1937 | 199 | #391 | 0.19 |
| 1936 | 133 | #491 | 0.13 |
| 1935 | 122 | #524 | 0.12 |
| 1934 | 84 | #661 | 0.08 |
| 1933 | 73 | #707 | 0.07 |
| 1932 | 64 | #797 | 0.06 |
| 1931 | 70 | #736 | 0.07 |
| 1930 | 57 | #880 | 0.05 |
| 1929 | 48 | #978 | 0.04 |
| 1928 | 39 | #1,138 | 0.04 |
| 1927 | 39 | #1,154 | 0.03 |
| 1926 | 24 | #1,541 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 21 | #1,714 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 32 | #1,313 | 0.03 |
| 1923 | 25 | #1,527 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 13 | #2,416 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 14 | #2,316 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 7 | #3,659 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 17 | #1,928 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 12 | #2,466 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 14 | #2,137 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 10 | #2,643 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 9 | #2,729 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 7 | #2,793 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,383 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 9 | #1,817 | 0.02 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,585 | 0.03 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,301 | 0.04 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Kenny a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 52,479 Americans recorded as Kenny, 1% are girls and 99% boys. In 2025 it went to 6 girls and 155 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Kenny: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Kenny, and how old are they?
41,900 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 80% of the 52,479 Americans ever recorded as Kenny. The median Kenny alive today is 50 years old; half are between 30 and 65.
The 2020 Census counted 51,666 people named Kenny (1,031 women and girls, 50,635 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 43,645 born in the U.S. The Census count is 18% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,160 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 13,400 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 8,490 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 8,490 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,670 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,700 |
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 Kenny born?
The states with the most babies named Kenny are California, New York and Texas, with 29% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 6,421 | #1,061 | 1.2× |
| New York | 4,246 | #869 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 3,316 | #1,151 | 0.9× |
| Florida | 2,288 | #938 | 1.3× |
| Ohio | 2,138 | #1,073 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 1,985 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Tennessee | 1,707 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 1,690 | #1,214 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 1,626 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Kentucky | 1,514 | not ranked | 1.6× |
Where Kenny is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Kenny is most over-represented in Arkansas: since 1910 it was given 2.0 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 Kenny 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 73,683 babies since 1880, Kenny is the most given (71% of them). In 2025 it was given to 161 of their 1,091 babies (15%), the third 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 Kenny
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 Kenny and names like it
- Compare Kenny and KeanuBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sKenny peaked in 1960.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Kenny since 1910.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Kenny.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Kenny alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with KMost given first.