Kenji
A masculine Japanese name meaning "vigorous, healthy second son".
Name Census estimates that about 4,922 living Americans carry the first name Kenji. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Kenji today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenji births was 2022 (336 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenji. 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 Kenji with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 69,637 Americans
Peak year
2022
336 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#855
Tracked since 1913
Census
Kenji in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,219 people with the first name Kenji, which placed it at #4,435 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
#4,435
National first-name rank
People counted
4.2K
4,219 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
47.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenji
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenji is Asian/Pacific Islander at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (21.7%) and Black (13.7%). 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 Kenji 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 Kenji at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander47.0% · 1,984
- Two or more races21.7% · 915
- Black or African American13.7% · 578
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 560
- White4.1% · 175
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenji
Out of the 5,406 babies given the name Kenji since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Kenji as a male name
- Ranked #855 in 2024
- 283 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (336 births)
Kenji as a female name
- Ranked #14,485 in 2009
- 7 female births in 2009
- Peak: 1980 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenji leans strongly male. 4,107 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 105 female bearers (2.5%).
Popularity
Kenji: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenji from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,441 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenji 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 Kenji during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kenjis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Kenji, while Connecticut, Utah, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 116 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenji
The name Kenji is of Japanese origin, deriving from the word "ken," meaning "healthy" or "robust," and "ji," meaning "second son" or "second child." It has been a popular name in Japan for centuries, particularly among samurai families who valued strength and vitality.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Kenji can be traced back to the 8th century AD, during the Nara period of Japanese history. At that time, it was primarily associated with the aristocratic class and was rarely used by commoners.
One of the earliest and most famous individuals to bear the name Kenji was Kenji Miyamoto (1180-1252), a renowned samurai warrior and strategist who served under the shogunate of Minamoto no Yoritomo. Miyamoto played a pivotal role in several battles during the Genpei War and was renowned for his tactical brilliance and unwavering loyalty.
In the 16th century, another notable figure named Kenji Ishida (1508-1593) emerged as a skilled swordsmith and craftsman. His katanas and other blades were highly sought after by samurai across Japan, and his work was considered a masterpiece of Japanese metalworking.
During the Edo period (1603-1867), the name Kenji became more widely adopted among the merchant class and lower nobility. One prominent individual from this era was Kenji Hirayama (1718-1794), a celebrated poet and scholar who made significant contributions to the development of classical Japanese literature.
In more recent history, the name Kenji has continued to be popular in Japan, and several notable figures have borne it. Kenji Mizoguchi (1898-1956) was a pioneering filmmaker who helped shape the Japanese cinema during the early 20th century, and his films are considered masterpieces of the art form.
Another famous Kenji was Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933), a renowned poet and author whose works, such as "Night on the Galactic Railroad," have become beloved classics in Japanese literature. His writings often explored themes of spirituality, nature, and the human condition.
People
Kenji + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenji 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
Kenji: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenji?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,922 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenji 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 69,637 US residents.
Is Kenji a common name?
We classify Kenji as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenji most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenji was 2022, when 336 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenji is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenji in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,219 people with the name Kenji, or 1.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,435 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 Kenji 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 Kenji?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenji leans strongly male. 4,107 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 105 female bearers (2.5%). 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 Kenji?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenji is Asian/Pacific Islander at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (21.7%) and Black (13.7%). 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 Kenji most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kenji in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.0% (1,984 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 Kenji in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenji a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Kenji 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 Kenji still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenji 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 Kenji 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 called Kenji?
You can see how many people have the name Kenji on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.