Kenlee
A feminine name combining "Ken," meaning handsome, and "Lee," meaning meadow.
Name Census estimates that about 2,198 living Americans carry the first name Kenlee. It is a predominantly female name (97.1% of registrations). The average person named Kenlee today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenlee births was 2015 (159 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenlee. 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
- • Although Kenlee is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 64 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Kenlee is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 155,939 Americans
Peak year
2015
159 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2018 SSA rank
#2,938
Tracked since 1993
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenlee
Kenlee leans heavily female at 97.1% of total registrations, but 64 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kenlee as a male name
- Ranked #11,508 in 2018
- 6 male births in 2018
- Peak: 2008 (8 births)
Kenlee as a female name
- Ranked #2,938 in 2024
- 56 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (153 births)
Popularity
Kenlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenlee from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,272 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenlee 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 Kenlee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kenlees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Kenlee, while South Carolina, Kansas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenlee
The name Kenlee is a modern invention, combining the Scottish name Kenneth with the popular English suffix -lee. It does not have any direct historical or cultural origins.
Kenneth is a masculine name derived from the Gaelic Cináed, meaning "born of fire" or "fire-born". It gained popularity in Scotland due to the influence of Kenneth I, a semi-legendary king who reigned in the 9th century. Kenneth was later anglicized as Kenneth and spread to other parts of the British Isles and beyond.
The suffix -lee is a common English name ending, often used to create feminine names like Emily, Ashley, or Kaylee. It is thought to have originated from the Old English word "leah", meaning a meadow or clearing in a forest.
The combination of Kenneth and -lee into Kenlee is a modern invention, likely created in the late 20th or early 21st century as a feminine form of Kenneth. While there are no recorded historical figures specifically named Kenlee, a few notable people named Kenneth throughout history include:
1. Kenneth I, the semi-legendary king of Scotland who reigned in the 9th century.
2. Kenneth III of Scotland (c. 997 - c. 1005), a king of Scotland in the early 11th century.
3. Kenneth Branagh (born 1960), an acclaimed British actor, director, and playwright.
4. Kenneth Clark (1903 - 1983), a British art historian and broadcaster.
5. Kenneth MacMillan (1929 - 1992), a renowned British ballet dancer and choreographer.
As a relatively new name, Kenlee does not have a rich historical or cultural background. Its creation reflects the modern trend of creating unique and unconventional names by combining existing names or adding new suffixes and spellings.
People
Kenlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenlee 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
Kenlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenlee 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 155,939 US residents.
Is Kenlee a common name?
We classify Kenlee as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenlee was 2015, when 159 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenlee is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kenlee a female name?
Yes, 97.1% of people registered as Kenlee 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.
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.