Kendale
Derived from a combination of English elements, potentially meaning "valley of the royal hall".
Name Census estimates that about 998 living Americans carry the first name Kendale. It is a predominantly male name (94.6% of registrations). The average person named Kendale today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kendale births was 1994 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kendale. 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.
People living today
998
~ 1 in 343,441 Americans
Peak year
1994
44 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,385
Tracked since 1963
Census
Kendale in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 810 people with the first name Kendale, which placed it at #14,534 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,534
National first-name rank
People counted
810
810 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kendale
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kendale is Black at 66.7%. The next largest groups are White (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kendale described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kendale at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.7% · 540
- White24.6% · 199
- Two or more races4.3% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Kendale
Kendale leans heavily male at 94.6% of total registrations, but 55 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kendale as a male name
- Ranked #10,385 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (37 births)
Kendale as a female name
- Ranked #14,075 in 2011
- 7 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1994 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kendale leans strongly male. 684 people counted with this name were male (83.6%), compared with 134 female bearers (16.4%).
Popularity
Kendale: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kendale from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 310 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kendale 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 Kendale during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kendales live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Illinois, California, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Kendale, while New York, Louisiana, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kendale
The name Kendale is a modern invented name, likely derived from a combination of the English name Kenneth and the suffix "-dale," which means "valley" in Old English. Its origins can be traced back to the late 20th century, when parents began creating unique names by blending existing ones or combining them with attractive suffixes.
While the name Kendale does not have a long historical lineage or cultural significance, it has been embraced by some parents in recent decades as a distinctive and pleasing-sounding name. The earliest recorded instances of the name Kendale appear to be from the late 1970s and early 1980s, although it remained relatively uncommon until the past few decades.
Due to its modern origins, there are no notable historical figures or ancient texts associated with the name Kendale. However, a few individuals bearing this name have gained recognition in various fields, such as:
1. Kendale Bronson (born 1985), an American professional basketball player who played in several European leagues.
2. Kendale Truitt (born 1977), an American former professional basketball player and current coach.
3. Kendale D. Taylor (born 1981), an American gospel singer and songwriter.
4. Kendale R. Wilcox (born 1966), an American author and academic.
5. Kendale E. Roberts (born 1971), an American business executive and entrepreneur.
While the name Kendale is relatively new and does not have a rich historical background, it has gained popularity in recent years as a unique and modern name choice. Its blend of familiar elements with a distinctive sound has appealed to parents seeking a name that stands out while retaining a sense of familiarity.
People
Kendale + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kendale 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
Kendale: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kendale?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 998 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kendale 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 343,441 US residents.
Is Kendale a common name?
We classify Kendale as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,028 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kendale most popular?
The single biggest year for Kendale was 1994, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kendale is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kendale in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 810 people with the name Kendale, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,534 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kendale in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kendale?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kendale leans strongly male. 684 people counted with this name were male (83.6%), compared with 134 female bearers (16.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kendale?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kendale is Black at 66.7%. The next largest groups are White (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kendale most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kendale in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (540 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kendale in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kendale a male name?
Yes, 94.6% of people registered as Kendale in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Kendale still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kendale in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kendale can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Kendale?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.