Kenton
Kenton was given to 92 boys in 2025, #1,758 among boys’ names; 11,280 Americans have been recorded with it since 1912 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 9,210 Americans named Kenton and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (82% of everyone recorded); the median is 36 years old and half are between 18 and 57.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Kenton by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Kenton mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Kenton is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “royal” (cyne-) and “enclosure; settlement, town” (tūn).
From either the Old English personal name Cena or cyne- (“royal”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).
/ˈkɛn.tən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Kenton?
#1,758 among boys’ names, 2025
Kenton fell from #1,081 in 2015 to #1,758 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 95.0 to 53.9 per million.
188 babies in 2014, the peak
Kenton peaked in 2014, when 188 boys were given it, #1,056 among boys’ names. The 92 births of 2025 are 49% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 92 | #1,758 | 53.9 |
| 2024 | 70 | #2,124 | 40.6 |
| 2023 | 75 | #2,020 | 43.8 |
| 2022 | 96 | #1,741 | 55.0 |
| 2021 | 96 | #1,704 | 54.9 |
| 2020 | 115 | #1,483 | 66.6 |
| 2019 | 126 | #1,403 | 70.2 |
| 2018 | 128 | #1,378 | 70.5 |
| 2017 | 137 | #1,320 | 74.0 |
| 2016 | 159 | #1,196 | 83.8 |
Every recorded year (114)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 182 | #1,081 | 95.0 |
| 2014 | 188 | #1,056 | 97.9 |
| 2013 | 163 | #1,116 | 86.2 |
| 2012 | 163 | #1,126 | 85.9 |
| 2011 | 136 | #1,270 | 71.6 |
| 2010 | 111 | #1,478 | 57.9 |
| 2009 | 152 | #1,187 | 76.6 |
| 2008 | 136 | #1,280 | 66.7 |
| 2007 | 125 | #1,345 | 60.2 |
| 2006 | 139 | #1,210 | 67.6 |
| 2005 | 122 | #1,274 | 61.1 |
| 2004 | 131 | #1,185 | 66.0 |
| 2003 | 133 | #1,137 | 67.3 |
| 2002 | 109 | #1,245 | 56.1 |
| 2001 | 114 | #1,193 | 58.7 |
| 2000 | 142 | #1,029 | 72.3 |
| 1999 | 132 | #1,046 | 68.7 |
| 1998 | 142 | #972 | 74.3 |
| 1997 | 145 | #933 | 76.9 |
| 1996 | 139 | #937 | 73.4 |
| 1995 | 156 | #872 | 81.9 |
| 1994 | 140 | #928 | 72.5 |
| 1993 | 133 | #932 | 67.8 |
| 1992 | 134 | #913 | 67.1 |
| 1991 | 152 | #838 | 75.2 |
| 1990 | 139 | #865 | 67.7 |
| 1989 | 150 | #806 | 75.0 |
| 1988 | 144 | #791 | 75.2 |
| 1987 | 147 | #754 | 78.7 |
| 1986 | 148 | #748 | 80.4 |
| 1985 | 136 | #761 | 73.6 |
| 1984 | 166 | #675 | 92.0 |
| 1983 | 146 | #710 | 81.4 |
| 1982 | 125 | #789 | 68.9 |
| 1981 | 110 | #840 | 61.4 |
| 1980 | 121 | #797 | 67.8 |
| 1979 | 98 | #885 | 56.9 |
| 1978 | 100 | #863 | 60.9 |
| 1977 | 93 | #877 | 56.6 |
| 1976 | 82 | #927 | 52.3 |
| 1975 | 91 | #871 | 58.3 |
| 1974 | 88 | #854 | 56.0 |
| 1973 | 85 | #863 | 54.5 |
| 1972 | 83 | #885 | 51.2 |
| 1971 | 116 | #763 | 65.6 |
| 1970 | 98 | #820 | 52.7 |
| 1969 | 111 | #744 | 62.1 |
| 1968 | 122 | #682 | 70.2 |
| 1967 | 121 | #679 | 69.4 |
| 1966 | 115 | #692 | 64.5 |
| 1965 | 129 | #654 | 69.3 |
| 1964 | 151 | #634 | 75.8 |
| 1963 | 174 | #597 | 85.7 |
| 1962 | 153 | #627 | 74.0 |
| 1961 | 136 | #668 | 64.0 |
| 1960 | 157 | #621 | 73.6 |
| 1959 | 157 | #617 | 73.6 |
| 1958 | 174 | #586 | 82.0 |
| 1957 | 150 | #624 | 69.5 |
| 1956 | 151 | #619 | 71.4 |
| 1955 | 145 | #616 | 70.4 |
| 1954 | 156 | #590 | 76.5 |
| 1953 | 124 | #639 | 62.9 |
| 1952 | 122 | #634 | 62.8 |
| 1951 | 133 | #611 | 70.6 |
| 1950 | 98 | #691 | 54.7 |
| 1949 | 97 | #693 | 54.7 |
| 1948 | 81 | #754 | 46.2 |
| 1947 | 91 | #719 | 49.7 |
| 1946 | 90 | #683 | 55.4 |
| 1945 | 59 | #814 | 43.8 |
| 1944 | 67 | #766 | 49.2 |
| 1943 | 69 | #791 | 48.3 |
| 1942 | 48 | #963 | 34.8 |
| 1941 | 44 | #966 | 35.8 |
| 1940 | 35 | #1,116 | 30.2 |
| 1939 | 46 | #921 | 41.6 |
| 1938 | 33 | #1,139 | 29.8 |
| 1937 | 45 | #938 | 42.2 |
| 1936 | 42 | #961 | 40.5 |
| 1935 | 41 | #1,001 | 39.4 |
| 1934 | 30 | #1,230 | 29.1 |
| 1933 | 38 | #1,063 | 38.3 |
| 1932 | 41 | #1,044 | 39.3 |
| 1931 | 47 | #968 | 45.2 |
| 1930 | 18 | #1,784 | 16.4 |
| 1929 | 24 | #1,504 | 22.3 |
| 1928 | 30 | #1,344 | 27.1 |
| 1927 | 22 | #1,672 | 19.5 |
| 1926 | 15 | #2,136 | 13.5 |
| 1925 | 32 | #1,292 | 28.7 |
| 1924 | 24 | #1,602 | 21.2 |
| 1923 | 16 | #2,074 | 14.6 |
| 1922 | 28 | #1,421 | 25.7 |
| 1921 | 26 | #1,492 | 23.6 |
| 1920 | 22 | #1,667 | 20.7 |
| 1919 | 24 | #1,509 | 24.5 |
| 1918 | 22 | #1,630 | 21.7 |
| 1917 | 15 | #2,044 | 16.2 |
| 1916 | 14 | #2,096 | 15.7 |
| 1915 | 15 | #1,928 | 17.7 |
| 1914 | 12 | #1,914 | 18.3 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,744 | 21.5 |
| 1912 | 8 | #1,967 | 18.6 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Kenton a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Kenton has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 114 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Kenton: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Kenton, and how old are they?
9,210 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 82% of the 11,280 Americans ever recorded as Kenton. The median Kenton alive today is 36 years old; half are between 18 and 57.
The 2020 Census counted 8,996 people named Kenton (19 women and girls, 8,977 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 9,143 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 171 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,720 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,450 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,150 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,100 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,620 |
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 Kenton born?
The states with the most babies named Kenton are Pennsylvania, Texas and Kentucky, with 84% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Kentucky is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 11 | #771 | 0.7× |
| Texas | 9 | #1,837 | 0.6× |
| Kentucky | 6 | #669 | 1.9× |
| Virginia | 5 | #1,178 | 0.4× |
Where Kenton is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Kenton is most over-represented in Kansas: since 1912 it was given 2.9 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 Kenton with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Kenton
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 Kenton and names like it
- Compare Kenton and KennonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sKenton peaked in 2014.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Kenton since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Kenton: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2014The year the most babies were named Kenton.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Kenton alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with KMost given first.