Kendi
An Eskimo/Inuit feminine name meaning "simply existing".
Name Census estimates that about 635 living Americans carry the first name Kendi. It is a predominantly female name (96.4% of registrations). The average person named Kendi today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kendi births was 2007 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kendi. 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
635
~ 1 in 539,771 Americans
Peak year
2007
31 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2022 SSA rank
#8,660
Tracked since 1962
Census
Kendi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 665 people with the first name Kendi, which placed it at #16,809 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
#16,809
National first-name rank
People counted
665
665 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kendi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kendi is White at 47.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Kendi 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 Kendi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.7% · 317
- Black or African American28.6% · 190
- Hispanic or Latino15.8% · 105
- Two or more races5.3% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Kendi
Kendi leans heavily female at 96.4% of total registrations, but 24 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kendi as a male name
- Ranked #8,660 in 2022
- 9 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2021 (10 births)
Kendi as a female name
- Ranked #9,873 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kendi leans strongly female. 619 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 46 male bearers (6.9%).
Popularity
Kendi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kendi from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 162 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kendi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kendi 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 Kendi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kendis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kendi
The given name Kendi is believed to have its origins in the Swahili language spoken in East Africa. It is derived from the Swahili word "kendi," which means "clay pot" or "ceramic vessel." The name is thought to have been bestowed upon children with the hope that they would be as resilient and enduring as the humble clay pot.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kendi can be found in the 16th century Swahili epic poem "Utenzi wa Ras il Ghuli," which tells the story of a Swahili prince named Ras il Ghuli. In this poem, one of the characters is referred to as "Kendi," though it is unclear whether this was a given name or a nickname.
In the 19th century, the name gained prominence in the region around the Kenyan coast, particularly among the Swahili people. One notable figure from this period was Kendi bin Juma, a renowned Swahili poet and philosopher born in 1825 in Lamu, Kenya. His works explored themes of spirituality, love, and the complexities of human existence.
Moving into the 20th century, the name Kendi began to spread beyond its East African roots. In 1924, Kendi Omalu was born in Nigeria, becoming one of the first notable individuals with the name outside of the Swahili cultural sphere. Omalu went on to become a celebrated playwright and author, known for his insightful portrayals of Nigerian society.
In more recent times, the name Kendi has been carried by several influential figures, including Kendi Nderitu, a Kenyan peace activist and former government minister born in 1963. Nderitu has been a vocal advocate for women's rights and conflict resolution in East Africa.
Another notable individual with the name Kendi is Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, an American author and scholar born in 1982. Kendi is a leading voice in the field of antiracist studies and has written several acclaimed books, including "Stamped from the Beginning" and "How to Be an Antiracist."
While the name Kendi has its roots in the Swahili language and culture, it has transcended its origins and become a name embraced by individuals from diverse backgrounds around the world. Its connection to the resilient clay pot serves as a reminder of the enduring strength and perseverance embodied by those who carry this name.
People
Kendi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kendi 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
Kendi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kendi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 635 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kendi 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 539,771 US residents.
Is Kendi a common name?
We classify Kendi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 658 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kendi most popular?
The single biggest year for Kendi was 2007, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kendi is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kendi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 665 people with the name Kendi, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,809 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 Kendi 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 Kendi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kendi leans strongly female. 619 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 46 male bearers (6.9%). 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 Kendi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kendi is White at 47.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Kendi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kendi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.7% (317 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 Kendi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kendi a female name?
Yes, 96.4% of people registered as Kendi 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.
Is Kendi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kendi 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 Kendi 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 Kendi?
Want to know how many people have the name Kendi? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.