Kenia
Of Caribbean origin, meaning "flat or clear".
Name Census estimates that about 9,854 living Americans carry the first name Kenia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kenia today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenia births was 2016 (451 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenia. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kenia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
9.9K
~ 1 in 34,783 Americans
Peak year
2016
451 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
1999 SSA rank
#1,015
Tracked since 1961
Census
Kenia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,674 people with the first name Kenia, which placed it at #1,923 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
#1,923
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
14,674 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenia is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Black (3.7%) and White (2.5%). 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 Kenia 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 Kenia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.4% · 13,700
- Black or African American3.7% · 536
- White2.5% · 368
- Two or more races0.3% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenia
Out of the 10,047 babies given the name Kenia since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kenia as a male name
- Ranked #10,821 in 1999
- 5 male births in 1999
- Peak: 1992 (7 births)
Kenia as a female name
- Ranked #1,015 in 2024
- 250 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (451 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenia appears almost entirely female. Of the 14,680 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kenia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,267 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kenia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenia 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 Kenia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kenias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kenia, while Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 256 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenia
The name Kenia has its origins in the Bantu languages spoken in various parts of East and Central Africa. It is believed to be derived from the Kikuyu word "Kenia," which means "the source of life" or "the place of brightness." This name is closely associated with the famous Mount Kenya, one of the highest mountains in Africa and a significant landmark in Kenya's geography and culture.
In the early 19th century, as European explorers began to venture into the interior of East Africa, they encountered the Kikuyu people and learned about the name Kenia. The name gained recognition in the Western world through the writings and records of these explorers, who documented their encounters with the local communities and the significance of Mount Kenya.
While the name Kenia does not appear to have been widely used in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been recorded in various historical accounts and travel logs from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some notable individuals who bore the name Kenia throughout history include:
1. Kenia Serrano (born 1976), a Cuban-American actress known for her roles in television shows like "Dexter" and "Prison Break."
2. Kenia Bronté (born 1971), a Mexican actress and model who has appeared in several telenovelas and films.
3. Kenia Ontiveros (born 1980), a Mexican swimmer who competed in the Olympic Games and won multiple medals in international competitions.
4. Kenia Sinclair (born 1981), a Jamaican-American actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films.
5. Kenia Largaespada (born 1979), a Nicaraguan journalist and news anchor who has worked for several prominent media outlets in her country.
These individuals, while not necessarily historical figures, have carried the name Kenia and contributed to various fields, including entertainment, sports, and journalism, in more recent times.
It is worth noting that the name Kenia has gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, where it is often used as a feminine given name. However, its origins can be traced back to the Bantu languages of East Africa and the significance of Mount Kenya in the region's cultural and geographical landscape.
People
Kenia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenia 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
Kenia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,854 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenia 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 34,783 US residents.
Is Kenia a common name?
We classify Kenia as "Rare". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,047 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenia most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenia was 2016, when 451 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenia is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,674 people with the name Kenia, or 4.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,923 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 Kenia 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 Kenia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenia appears almost entirely female. Of the 14,680 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kenia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenia is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Black (3.7%) and White (2.5%). 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 Kenia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Kenia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (13,700 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 Kenia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenia a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Kenia 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 Kenia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenia 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 Kenia 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 have the name Kenia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.