NameCensus.
Rare

Kemani

A feminine name of Japanese origin meaning "beautiful, elegant".

Name Census estimates that about 1,136 living Americans carry the first name Kemani. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Kemani today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kemani births was 2012 (67 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Kemani. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.

Key insights

  • Kemani sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
  • Kemani is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.

People living today

1.1K

~ 1 in 301,720 Americans

Peak year

2012

67 babies that year

Average age

15

years old

2024 SSA rank

#5,146

Tracked since 1994

Gender

Gender distribution for Kemani

Kemani is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,148 total registrations, 497 (43.3%) were male and 651 (56.7%) were female.

43% male
57% female
Male497 (43.3%)Female651 (56.7%)

Kemani as a male name

  • Ranked #5,146 in 2024
  • 19 male births in 2024
  • Peak: 2012 (35 births)

Kemani as a female name

  • Ranked #6,776 in 2024
  • 17 female births in 2024
  • Peak: 2011 (47 births)

Popularity

Kemani: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Kemani from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 477 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kemani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.

Babies born per year

MaleFemale
017345067199520002005201020152020

Decades

Kemani by decade

The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kemani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
1990s363874
2000s192211403
2010s197280477
2020s72122194

Geography

Where Kemanis live

The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Florida, Louisiana, California recorded the most babies named Kemani, while Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.

Origin

Meaning and history of Kemani

The name Kemani is believed to have originated from the Quechua language, which is spoken by indigenous people in the Andean regions of South America, primarily in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and parts of Argentina, Colombia, and Chile. The Quechua civilization dates back to the ancient Inca Empire, which flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The word "kemani" in Quechua is thought to be derived from the root word "kema," which means "to trust" or "to have faith." It is possible that the name Kemani was originally bestowed upon individuals who were considered trustworthy or faithful within their communities. However, the precise origin and meaning of the name are not entirely clear due to the limited historical records from that era.

In terms of historical references, there are no known mentions of the name Kemani in ancient texts or religious scriptures. The earliest recorded instances of the name appear to be from the colonial period in South America, when Spanish colonizers began documenting the indigenous populations and their names.

One of the earliest known individuals with the name Kemani was a Quechua leader named Kemani Amaru, who lived in the late 16th century. He was a prominent figure in the resistance against the Spanish colonization and fought to protect the rights and lands of his people.

Another notable figure with the name Kemani was Kemani Huanca, a skilled potter and artisan from the Cusco region of Peru in the 17th century. His intricate ceramic works, which depicted scenes from Inca mythology and daily life, are considered significant examples of traditional Quechua art.

In the 19th century, Kemani Tupac Yupanqui was a renowned Quechua scholar and linguist who played a vital role in preserving and documenting the Quechua language and culture. He authored several works on Quechua grammar and literature, contributing to the recognition and preservation of this ancient language.

During the 20th century, Kemani Quispe was a prominent political activist and leader of the indigenous rights movement in Bolivia. He fought tirelessly for the rights and representation of the Quechua and Aymara peoples, advocating for land reforms and cultural preservation.

More recently, Kemani Chalkho was a respected Quechua artist and painter from Ecuador, known for his vibrant depictions of Andean landscapes and indigenous cultural traditions. His works have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, celebrating the rich heritage of the Quechua people.

People

Kemani + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Kemani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.

Related

Other names starting with K

Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.

FAQ

Kemani: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Kemani?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kemani going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 301,720 US residents.

Is Kemani a common name?

We classify Kemani as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,148 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Kemani most popular?

The single biggest year for Kemani was 2012, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kemani is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Kemani a female name?

Yes, 56.7% of people registered as Kemani in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.

Where does this data come from?

First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.

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