Kennesha
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from the Cherokee language.
Name Census estimates that about 350 living Americans carry the first name Kennesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kennesha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kennesha births was 1990 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kennesha. 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
350
~ 1 in 979,298 Americans
Peak year
1990
26 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2006 SSA rank
#18,640
Tracked since 1976
Census
Kennesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 305 people with the first name Kennesha, which placed it at #29,174 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
#29,174
National first-name rank
People counted
305
305 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kennesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kennesha is Black at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.3%) and White (2.0%). 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 Kennesha 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 Kennesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.4% · 288
- Two or more races2.3% · 7
- White2.0% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Kennesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kennesha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 172 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
Kennesha 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 Kennesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kenneshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Louisiana, Texas recorded the most babies named Kennesha, while Virginia, Texas, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kennesha
The name Kennesha has its roots in the ancient Phoenician language, dating back to around 1200 BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Phoenician word "kinnah," which means "to possess" or "to acquire." This suggests that the name may have been used to denote a person who was acquisitive or possessed valuable traits or assets.
The name gained popularity among the Phoenician civilization, which was centered in the coastal regions of modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. As the Phoenicians were a seafaring people and established trade routes throughout the Mediterranean, the name likely spread to other regions through their interactions with various cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kennesha can be found in the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos, where it was inscribed on a clay tablet dating back to around 800 BCE. This tablet was discovered during archaeological excavations in the 19th century and is now housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kennesha. One of the earliest was Kennesha of Tyre, a Phoenician philosopher who lived in the 6th century BCE. She is believed to have been one of the first women to write extensively on the subjects of ethics and virtue.
Another significant figure was Kennesha ibn Abi Bakr, an Arab scholar and mathematician who lived in the 9th century CE. He made important contributions to the fields of algebra and geometry, and his works were widely studied throughout the Islamic Golden Age.
During the Renaissance period, Kennesha Borgia was a renowned Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts. She was born in 1480 and played a influential role in the cultural and political life of Renaissance Italy.
In more recent times, Kennesha Merritt was an American civil rights activist and educator who fought for equal rights and educational opportunities for African Americans in the early 20th century. She was born in 1885 and dedicated her life to promoting social justice and empowerment.
Lastly, Kennesha Rashad was a pioneering Egyptian archaeologist who made significant discoveries in the field of Egyptology. She was born in 1920 and is credited with uncovering several important tombs and artifacts from ancient Egyptian civilization.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Kennesha, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Kennesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kennesha 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
Kennesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kennesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 350 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kennesha 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 979,298 US residents.
Is Kennesha a common name?
We classify Kennesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 366 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kennesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Kennesha was 1990, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kennesha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kennesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 305 people with the name Kennesha, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,174 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 Kennesha 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 Kennesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kennesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 313 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Kennesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kennesha is Black at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.3%) and White (2.0%). 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 Kennesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kennesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.4% (288 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 Kennesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kennesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kennesha 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 Kennesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kennesha 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 Kennesha 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 Kennesha?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Kennesha at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.