Kenric
A regal Germanic masculine name meaning "brave ruler" or "powerful leader".
Name Census estimates that about 871 living Americans carry the first name Kenric. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kenric today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenric births was 1976 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenric. 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
871
~ 1 in 393,518 Americans
Peak year
1976
61 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2023 SSA rank
#6,722
Tracked since 1946
Census
Kenric in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 724 people with the first name Kenric, which placed it at #15,776 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
#15,776
National first-name rank
People counted
724
724 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenric
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenric is Black at 53.7%. The next largest groups are White (26.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Kenric 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 Kenric at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.7% · 389
- White26.0% · 188
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 52
- Two or more races5.2% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 22
Popularity
Kenric: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenric from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 420 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenric 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 Kenric during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kenrics live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas recorded the most babies named Kenric, while South Carolina, California, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenric
The name Kenric has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically Old English and Old Norse. It is a compound name formed by combining the elements "cen" or "ken," meaning "bold" or "brave," and "ric," meaning "ruler" or "power." The name can be translated to mean "brave ruler" or "bold leader."
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kenric date back to the 7th century in Anglo-Saxon England. It was a common name among the nobility and ruling classes of that era, reflecting the warrior culture and the emphasis placed on valor and leadership qualities.
One of the earliest known historical figures bearing the name Kenric was Cenric, a 7th-century king of the West Saxons, who reigned from around 647 to 661 AD. Another notable figure was Kenric of Northumbria, a prince and heir to the Northumbrian throne in the late 7th century.
In later centuries, the name Kenric continued to be used, albeit with varying spellings such as Kenrick, Kendrick, and Kendric. One notable bearer of the name was Kenric of Winchester, a 10th-century bishop and scholar who was renowned for his learning and his contributions to the education of the clergy.
In the medieval period, the name Kenric was also found in Scotland, where it was sometimes anglicized as Hendry or Henry. One example is Kenric of Strathearn, a 12th-century Scottish nobleman who was known for his involvement in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Moving forward in time, a notable figure bearing the name Kenric was Kenric Trenholme (1865-1933), a Canadian historian and academic who served as the principal of the University of Brunswick in the early 20th century.
Another individual worth mentioning is Kenric Russell (1912-1992), an American actor and singer who appeared in numerous Broadway productions and Hollywood films during the mid-20th century.
Overall, the name Kenric has a rich historical background, reflecting the valor and leadership qualities that were highly valued in the Germanic and Anglo-Saxon cultures from which it originated.
People
Kenric + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenric 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
Kenric: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenric?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 871 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenric 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 393,518 US residents.
Is Kenric a common name?
We classify Kenric as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 939 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenric most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenric was 1976, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenric is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenric in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 724 people with the name Kenric, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,776 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 Kenric 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 Kenric?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenric appears almost entirely male. Of the 727 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Kenric?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenric is Black at 53.7%. The next largest groups are White (26.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Kenric most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kenric in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.7% (389 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 Kenric in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenric a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kenric 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 Kenric still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenric 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 Kenric 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 Kenric?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.