Kenna
An Irish name meaning "ancient", "old" or "handsome".
Name Census estimates that about 12,643 living Americans carry the first name Kenna. It is a predominantly female name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Kenna today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenna births was 2016 (455 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenna. 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 Kenna with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kenna is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 240 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 27,110 Americans
Peak year
2016
455 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2023 SSA rank
#725
Tracked since 1915
Census
Kenna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,814 people with the first name Kenna, which placed it at #2,338 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
#2,338
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
10,814 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenna is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Kenna 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 Kenna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.3% · 8,688
- Two or more races6.0% · 644
- Black or African American5.6% · 603
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 585
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 170
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 124
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenna
Kenna leans heavily female at 98.2% of total registrations, but 240 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kenna as a male name
- Ranked #11,568 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1956 (11 births)
Kenna as a female name
- Ranked #725 in 2024
- 388 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (444 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenna leans strongly female. 10,538 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 274 male bearers (2.5%).
Popularity
Kenna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenna from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,705 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kenna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenna 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 Kenna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kennas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kenna, while New Mexico, Maine, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 213 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenna
The name Kenna likely has its roots in the Gaelic language, originating from Ireland and Scotland in the early medieval period. It's believed to be a diminutive form of the Irish name Cináed, which means "born of fire" or "fire-born." The name Cináed itself is derived from the Old Irish words "cin" meaning "born" and "áed" meaning "fire."
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Kenna was Saint Kenna, an Irish nun and abbess who lived in the 6th century. She founded a convent at Kilkenny, Ireland, and her feast day is celebrated on January 1st in the Catholic Church.
In the 12th century, a Scottish king named Kenneth III, also known as Cináed mac Duíb, ruled from 997 to 1005 AD. His name was the Gaelic version of Kenna, and he is remembered for his military campaigns against the Norse-Gaels in northern Scotland.
Another notable historical figure with the name Kenna was Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer, a Dutch woman who lived from 1526 to 1588. She was a folk hero and leader of the defense of Haarlem against Spanish troops during the Eighty Years' War.
In the 19th century, Kenna Griffith was a Welsh landowner and businessman who lived from 1809 to 1876. He is remembered for his philanthropic efforts and for establishing several schools and institutions in Wales.
More recently, Kenna was the stage name of the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kenna Zemedkun, born in 1977. He is known for his blend of alternative rock, electronic, and R&B styles, and has released several critically acclaimed albums.
While the name Kenna has been more prevalent in certain regions and cultures, it has gained popularity globally in recent decades, particularly as a feminine given name. Its connection to fire and its ancient roots contribute to its appeal as a unique and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with historical significance.
People
Kenna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenna 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
Kenna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,643 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenna 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 27,110 US residents.
Is Kenna a common name?
We classify Kenna as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,413 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenna most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenna was 2016, when 455 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenna is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,814 people with the name Kenna, or 3.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,338 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 Kenna 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 Kenna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenna leans strongly female. 10,538 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 274 male 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 Kenna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenna is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.0%) and Black (5.6%). 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 Kenna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kenna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.3% (8,688 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 Kenna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenna a female name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Kenna 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 Kenna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenna 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 Kenna 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 share the name Kenna?
Want to know how many Americans are named Kenna? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.