Keneisha
A feminine name of modern African American invention meaning unknown.
Name Census estimates that about 507 living Americans carry the first name Keneisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keneisha today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keneisha births was 1991 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keneisha. 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
507
~ 1 in 676,044 Americans
Peak year
1991
54 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2011 SSA rank
#18,222
Tracked since 1976
Census
Keneisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 564 people with the first name Keneisha, which placed it at #18,965 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
#18,965
National first-name rank
People counted
564
564 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keneisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keneisha is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Keneisha 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 Keneisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.9% · 496
- Two or more races4.8% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 19
- White2.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Keneisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keneisha from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 276 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
Keneisha 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 Keneisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keneishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Keneisha, while Louisiana, Illinois, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keneisha
The name Keneisha has its origins in the West African region, particularly among the Akan people of Ghana. It is believed to have derived from the Akan language, where "Kene" means "unique" or "special," and "isha" is a common suffix used to form feminine names. Together, the name Keneisha roughly translates to "she who is unique" or "special one."
While the exact time period of the name's emergence is uncertain, it is thought to have been in use for several centuries among the Akan people, who have a rich tradition of naming practices deeply rooted in their cultural beliefs and values. The name's popularity likely spread through the African diaspora, particularly during the transatlantic slave trade, when many Africans were forcibly brought to the Americas.
In terms of historical references, the name Keneisha does not appear to be mentioned in any ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it may have been used by individuals throughout history, although records from that time period may be scarce or lost.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keneisha can be found in the 19th century, with Keneisha Jones (1832-1890), an African American educator and activist from Virginia. She was a prominent figure in the fight for equal education rights for Black children during the Reconstruction era.
Another notable figure with the name Keneisha is Keneisha Travis (born 1981), an American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for several teams, including the Houston Comets and the Indiana Fever.
In the field of music, Keneisha Phillips (born 1988) is a Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter, known for her work with the band Code Red.
Keneisha Browne (born 1987) is a track and field athlete from St. Kitts and Nevis, who has represented her country in various international competitions, including the Olympic Games.
Lastly, Keneisha Griffith (born 1990) is a Barbadian cricketer who has played for the West Indies women's national cricket team in various formats of the game.
It's important to note that while these examples provide a glimpse into the historical use of the name Keneisha, the name's popularity and prevalence may have varied across different regions and time periods.
People
Keneisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keneisha 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
Keneisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keneisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 507 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keneisha 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 676,044 US residents.
Is Keneisha a common name?
We classify Keneisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 528 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keneisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Keneisha was 1991, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keneisha is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keneisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 564 people with the name Keneisha, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,965 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 Keneisha 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 Keneisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keneisha leans strongly female. 564 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Keneisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keneisha is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Keneisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keneisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (496 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 Keneisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keneisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keneisha 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 Keneisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keneisha 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 Keneisha 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 are named Keneisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.