Kerry
Kerry is given to both girls and boys: 22 girls and 55 boys were given it in 2025 (#5,641 among girls’ names and #2,464 among boys’, #4,244 among all names counting both); 98,644 Americans have been recorded with it since 1920 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Boys have outnumbered girls among babies named Kerry every year since 2003.
An estimated 82,300 Americans named Kerry and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 56 years old and half are between 47 and 65.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Kerry by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Kerry mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Kerry is “a male given name transferred from the surname or place name.”
Also “a female given name transferred from the surname or place name, originally of Australian usage, also spelled Keri, Kerri and Kerrie.”
As an English surname, from a personal name derived from Old Norse Kári.
As an Irish surname, from Ó Ciardha (“descendant of Ciardha”), from ciar (“black”).
/ˈkɛɹi/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Kerry?
#2,464 among boys’ names, 2025
Kerry fell from #2,201 in 2015 to #2,464 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 32.3 to 32.2 per million.
3,127 babies in 1960, the peak
Kerry peaked in 1960, when 3,127 babies were given it (2,176 boys, #158 among boys’ names). The 77 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 2% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 22 | #5,641 | 55 | #2,464 |
| 2024 | 8 | #11,653 | 49 | #2,691 |
| 2023 | 13 | #8,278 | 35 | #3,381 |
| 2022 | 17 | #6,853 | 55 | #2,503 |
| 2021 | 16 | #7,107 | 42 | #2,945 |
| 2020 | 23 | #5,392 | 39 | #3,003 |
| 2019 | 22 | #5,711 | 43 | #2,877 |
| 2018 | 17 | #6,949 | 51 | #2,529 |
| 2017 | 30 | #4,633 | 57 | #2,301 |
| 2016 | 30 | #4,680 | 53 | #2,423 |
Every recorded year (106)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 26 | #5,217 | 62 | #2,201 |
| 2014 | 37 | #4,060 | 62 | #2,188 |
| 2013 | 39 | #3,881 | 71 | #1,952 |
| 2012 | 27 | #5,178 | 53 | #2,403 |
| 2011 | 35 | #4,192 | 61 | #2,158 |
| 2010 | 30 | #4,802 | 65 | #2,083 |
| 2009 | 32 | #4,627 | 70 | #1,998 |
| 2008 | 37 | #4,229 | 85 | #1,769 |
| 2007 | 45 | #3,629 | 87 | #1,724 |
| 2006 | 73 | #2,525 | 99 | #1,524 |
| 2005 | 80 | #2,269 | 120 | #1,286 |
| 2004 | 86 | #2,105 | 172 | #972 |
| 2003 | 100 | #1,851 | 112 | #1,272 |
| 2002 | 141 | #1,371 | 130 | #1,116 |
| 2001 | 149 | #1,297 | 142 | #1,037 |
| 2000 | 182 | #1,122 | 135 | #1,061 |
| 1999 | 200 | #1,020 | 150 | #962 |
| 1998 | 199 | #1,004 | 150 | #944 |
| 1997 | 272 | #772 | 188 | #789 |
| 1996 | 290 | #723 | 181 | #796 |
| 1995 | 295 | #709 | 206 | #745 |
| 1994 | 339 | #643 | 235 | #675 |
| 1993 | 373 | #614 | 296 | #599 |
| 1992 | 438 | #540 | 288 | #607 |
| 1991 | 477 | #497 | 414 | #488 |
| 1990 | 556 | #445 | 402 | #482 |
| 1989 | 560 | #437 | 409 | #466 |
| 1988 | 599 | #403 | 421 | #440 |
| 1987 | 670 | #353 | 409 | #437 |
| 1986 | 699 | #344 | 481 | #383 |
| 1985 | 672 | #349 | 525 | #351 |
| 1984 | 730 | #321 | 512 | #356 |
| 1983 | 786 | #297 | 383 | #420 |
| 1982 | 938 | #265 | 417 | #406 |
| 1981 | 939 | #268 | 418 | #399 |
| 1980 | 1,000 | #259 | 431 | #394 |
| 1979 | 994 | #252 | 462 | #373 |
| 1978 | 1,154 | #217 | 463 | #358 |
| 1977 | 1,300 | #202 | 540 | #334 |
| 1976 | 1,449 | #176 | 582 | #305 |
| 1975 | 1,676 | #163 | 646 | #294 |
| 1974 | 1,729 | #158 | 710 | #268 |
| 1973 | 1,874 | #148 | 681 | #272 |
| 1972 | 1,910 | #148 | 733 | #265 |
| 1971 | 2,206 | #145 | 878 | #255 |
| 1970 | 1,831 | #176 | 967 | #243 |
| 1969 | 1,854 | #176 | 976 | #235 |
| 1968 | 1,735 | #186 | 1,085 | #214 |
| 1967 | 1,258 | #231 | 1,123 | #206 |
| 1966 | 1,032 | #262 | 1,241 | #195 |
| 1965 | 921 | #289 | 1,471 | #177 |
| 1964 | 1,177 | #261 | 1,563 | #176 |
| 1963 | 1,163 | #258 | 1,724 | #170 |
| 1962 | 1,092 | #272 | 1,900 | #168 |
| 1961 | 1,040 | #287 | 2,027 | #161 |
| 1960 | 951 | #302 | 2,176 | #158 |
| 1959 | 792 | #337 | 1,703 | #178 |
| 1958 | 806 | #329 | 1,439 | #194 |
| 1957 | 813 | #321 | 1,747 | #175 |
| 1956 | 740 | #321 | 1,588 | #183 |
| 1955 | 615 | #348 | 1,601 | #174 |
| 1954 | 582 | #358 | 1,662 | #170 |
| 1953 | 569 | #357 | 1,264 | #194 |
| 1952 | 556 | #347 | 1,167 | #194 |
| 1951 | 491 | #361 | 1,183 | #191 |
| 1950 | 478 | #364 | 1,062 | #197 |
| 1949 | 395 | #400 | 926 | #210 |
| 1948 | 273 | #488 | 750 | #235 |
| 1947 | 196 | #607 | 704 | #248 |
| 1946 | 149 | #646 | 489 | #292 |
| 1945 | 124 | #664 | 310 | #341 |
| 1944 | 150 | #600 | 297 | #345 |
| 1943 | 87 | #834 | 211 | #429 |
| 1942 | 42 | #1,237 | 135 | #527 |
| 1941 | 25 | #1,587 | 120 | #543 |
| 1940 | 22 | #1,714 | 112 | #561 |
| 1939 | 10 | #2,817 | 87 | #631 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,664 | 70 | #732 |
| 1937 | 12 | #2,506 | 65 | #761 |
| 1936 | 8 | #3,250 | 79 | #665 |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,556 | 110 | #550 |
| 1934 | 6 | #4,061 | 44 | #963 |
| 1933 | under 5 | 19 | #1,618 | |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,750 | 22 | #1,534 |
| 1931 | under 5 | 20 | #1,615 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 21 | #1,628 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 15 | #2,055 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 9 | #2,956 | |
| 1927 | 5 | #5,217 | 14 | #2,245 |
| 1926 | under 5 | 10 | #2,811 | |
| 1925 | 6 | #4,692 | 14 | #2,262 |
| 1924 | under 5 | 13 | #2,411 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 7 | #3,653 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 5 | #4,657 | |
| 1921 | under 5 | 6 | #4,110 | |
| 1920 | 5 | #5,359 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Kerry a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 98,644 Americans recorded as Kerry, 49% are girls and 51% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Kerry: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Kerry, and how old are they?
82,300 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 98,644 Americans ever recorded as Kerry. The median Kerry alive today is 56 years old; half are between 47 and 65.
The 2020 Census counted 83,556 people named Kerry (45,211 women and girls, 38,345 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 86,394 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 797 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 28,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 33,500 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 14,800 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,450 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 967 |
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 Kerry born?
The states with the most babies named Kerry are New York, California and Texas, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 8,257 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| California | 7,681 | #2,644 | 0.8× |
| Texas | 6,015 | #2,440 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 5,184 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 4,869 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Massachusetts | 4,549 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| Michigan | 3,863 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 3,628 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Louisiana | 3,234 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| New Jersey | 2,939 | not ranked | 1.0× |
Where Kerry is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Kerry is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1920 it was given 1.7 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 Kerry 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 2 names spelled alike, given to 99,328 babies since 1880, Kerry is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 77 of their 77 babies (100%), again the most given.
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.
More about Kerry and names like it
- Compare Kerry and KearyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sKerry peaked in 1960.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Kerry since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Kerry: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Kerry.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Kerry alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with KMost given first.