Kene
An Igbo name meaning "from the beginning" or "let's start".
Name Census estimates that about 31 living Americans carry the first name Kene. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Kene today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kene births was 1978 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kene. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kene. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
31
~ 1 in 11,056,592 Americans
Peak year
1978
12 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2004 SSA rank
#12,348
Tracked since 1978
Census
Kene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 298 people with the first name Kene, which placed it at #29,601 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
#29,601
National first-name rank
People counted
298
298 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kene is Black at 54.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.4%) 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 Kene 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 Kene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.0% · 161
- White16.4% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino15.8% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.4% · 31
- Two or more races2.7% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Kene
Kene leans heavily male at 84.8% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kene as a male name
- Ranked #12,348 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1978 (12 births)
Kene as a female name
- Ranked #15,625 in 1999
- 5 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1999 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kene on both sides of the split. Of the 292 people counted with this name, 207 were male (70.9%) and 85 were female (29.1%).
Popularity
Kene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kene from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 17 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kene 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 Kene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kene
The name Kene has its origins in the Yoruba language, spoken by the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria and parts of Benin and Togo. It dates back several centuries and is believed to have derived from the Yoruba word "kẹ́ńù," which means "to appreciate" or "to admire."
In Yoruba culture, the name Kene has been traditionally associated with gratitude, appreciation, and admiration. It was often given to children to express the parents' thankfulness for their arrival and to instill in them a sense of gratitude and respect for life's blessings.
While the name Kene does not appear to be explicitly mentioned in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been a part of Yoruba naming traditions for generations. Some of the earliest recorded examples of individuals bearing the name Kene can be found in historical records from the 18th and 19th centuries.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Kene was Kene Mkparugo (1858-1929), a prominent Nigerian merchant and entrepreneur who played a significant role in the economic and social development of the region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another influential individual with the name Kene was Kene Nwanga (1912-1985), a Nigerian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly in the 1960s.
In the realm of arts and culture, Kene Leze-Massie (1946-2020) was a Congolese painter and sculptor renowned for his vibrant and expressive artworks that celebrated African culture and traditions.
Moving to the field of sports, Kene Eze (born 1987) is a Nigerian professional basketball player who has played for various teams in Europe and the NBA G League.
Lastly, Kene Holliday (born 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker known for his roles in television series like "Greenleaf" and "The Oval."
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kene, highlighting its cultural significance and enduring presence across various domains.
People
Kene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kene 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
Kene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kene 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 11,056,592 US residents.
Is Kene a common name?
We classify Kene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 33 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kene most popular?
The single biggest year for Kene was 1978, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kene is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 298 people with the name Kene, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,601 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 Kene 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 Kene?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kene on both sides of the split. Of the 292 people counted with this name, 207 were male (70.9%) and 85 were female (29.1%). 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 Kene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kene is Black at 54.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.4%) 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 Kene most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.0% (161 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 Kene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kene a male name?
Yes, 84.8% of people registered as Kene 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 Kene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kene 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 Kene 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 Americans are named Kene?
See how many people have the name Kene on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.