Kent
A masculine name of English origin derived from the county Kent, meaning "corner land".
Name Census estimates that about 53,360 living Americans carry the first name Kent. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kent today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kent births was 1962 (2,593 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kent. 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 Kent with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kent is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 171 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Kent have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
53K
~ 1 in 6,423 Americans
Peak year
1962
2,593 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,631
Tracked since 1885
Census
Kent in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 54,011 people with the first name Kent, which placed it at #850 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
#850
National first-name rank
People counted
54K
54,011 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
17.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kent
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kent is White at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Black (5.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%). 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 Kent 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 Kent at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.2% · 46,010
- Black or African American5.3% · 2,865
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 2,594
- Two or more races2.3% · 1,224
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 1,052
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 266
Gender
Gender distribution for Kent
Out of the 69,396 babies given the name Kent since 1880, 99.8% 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.
Kent as a male name
- Ranked #1,631 in 2024
- 104 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1962 (2,588 births)
Kent as a female name
- Ranked #11,225 in 1984
- 5 female births in 1984
- Peak: 1966 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kent appears almost entirely male. Of the 54,012 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Kent: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kent from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 19,336 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kent 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 Kent during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kents live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Illinois, Indiana recorded the most babies named Kent, while Vermont, Delaware, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,263 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kent
The name Kent is derived from the Old English word "Cent" or "Cant", which means a coastal district or county. It is believed to have originated as a geographical name referring to the southeastern county of Kent in England, known for its picturesque coastline along the English Channel.
Kent has been a popular name in England for centuries, and it is likely that some of the earliest bearers of this name were residents or originated from the county of Kent. The name gained wider popularity during the Middle Ages, and it is mentioned in various historical records and documents from this period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kent can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of lands and properties commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was in use in England before the Norman Conquest.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kent. One of the most famous was Kent Clark, an American actor and singer born in 1919, who appeared in numerous films and television shows during the mid-20th century. He is best known for his portrayal of Superman in the 1948 film serial "Superman."
Another prominent figure was Kent Hughes, an American evangelical Christian pastor, author, and speaker born in 1942. He served as the senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, and authored several books on Christian living and ministry.
In the realm of sports, Kent Hrbek was a notable American baseball player who played for the Minnesota Twins from 1981 to 1994. Born in 1960, he was a key member of the team that won the 1987 and 1991 World Series championships.
Kent Rollins, an American chemist and entrepreneur born in 1915, is also worth mentioning. He co-founded the Dow Chemical Company and played a significant role in the development of various chemical products and processes.
Last but not least, Kent Andersson was a Swedish football player born in 1942, who represented Sweden in the 1970 and 1974 FIFA World Cup tournaments. He played as a midfielder and is considered one of the greatest Swedish players of his era.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kent, showcasing its enduring popularity and rich historical significance across various fields and cultures.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kent
People
Kent + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kent 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
Kent: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kent?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53,360 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kent 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 6,423 US residents.
Is Kent a common name?
We classify Kent as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 69,396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kent most popular?
The single biggest year for Kent was 1962, when 2,593 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kent is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kent in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 54,011 people with the name Kent, or 17.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #850 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 Kent 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 Kent?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kent appears almost entirely male. Of the 54,012 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Kent?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kent is White at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Black (5.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%). 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 Kent most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kent in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.2% (46,010 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 Kent in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kent a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Kent 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 Kent still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kent 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 Kent 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 common is the name Kent?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.