Kenyatte
A masculine name likely derived from the name of the Kenyan leader Jomo Kenyatta.
Name Census estimates that about 171 living Americans carry the first name Kenyatte. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Kenyatte today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenyatte births was 1975 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenyatte. 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
171
~ 1 in 2,004,411 Americans
Peak year
1975
38 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1999 SSA rank
#9,344
Tracked since 1972
Census
Kenyatte in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 179 people with the first name Kenyatte, which placed it at #41,133 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
#41,133
National first-name rank
People counted
179
179 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenyatte
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenyatte is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and White (2.8%). 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 Kenyatte 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 Kenyatte at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.2% · 165
- Two or more races4.5% · 8
- White2.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenyatte
Kenyatte is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 184 total registrations, 123 (66.8%) were male and 61 (33.2%) were female.
Kenyatte as a male name
- Ranked #9,344 in 1999
- 6 male births in 1999
- Peak: 1975 (29 births)
Kenyatte as a female name
- Ranked #11,144 in 1994
- 7 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1975 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kenyatte on both sides of the split. Of the 181 people counted with this name, 119 were male (65.7%) and 62 were female (34.3%).
Popularity
Kenyatte: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenyatte from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 140 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
Kenyatte 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 Kenyatte during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kenyattes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenyatte
The name Kenyatte is derived from the Kikuyu language spoken by the Kikuyu people of Kenya. It is believed to have originated sometime in the 18th or 19th century. The name is a combination of the words "Kinya" meaning "born" and "ita" meaning "to get or receive." Together, the name can be interpreted as "one who is born to receive."
In the late 19th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Kenyatta Muigai, who later became known as Jomo Kenyatta (1891-1978). He was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and the first President of independent Kenya from 1964 until his death in 1978. Kenyatta played a significant role in the Kenyan independence movement and is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation.
Another notable figure with the name Kenyatte was Kenyatte Akili (1928-2006), an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was born Wallis Akili Wilson and later adopted the name Kenyatte, which he believed reflected his African heritage. Akili performed with various jazz luminaries throughout his career.
In the literary world, Kenyatte Cyrus (born 1949) is an American poet and author. Some of his notable works include "Voices from the African Dream" and "The Bluest Bushes." Cyrus has been recognized for his contributions to African American literature and has received numerous awards and honors.
Kenyatte King (born 1981) is a former professional basketball player from the United States. He played in the NBA for several teams, including the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks, between 2005 and 2010.
Kenyatte Hughes (born 1972) is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various films and television shows, including "Clockers," "The Woodsman," and "Oz." Hughes has also directed several episodes of popular television series like "ER" and "Shameless."
While the name Kenyatte has historical significance and has been borne by notable individuals, it is important to note that this report focuses solely on the first name and does not include information about its use as a surname or any recent census data.
People
Kenyatte + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenyatte 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
Kenyatte: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenyatte?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 171 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenyatte 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 2,004,411 US residents.
Is Kenyatte a common name?
We classify Kenyatte as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 184 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenyatte most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenyatte was 1975, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenyatte is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenyatte in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 179 people with the name Kenyatte, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,133 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 Kenyatte 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 Kenyatte?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kenyatte on both sides of the split. Of the 181 people counted with this name, 119 were male (65.7%) and 62 were female (34.3%). 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 Kenyatte?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenyatte is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and White (2.8%). 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 Kenyatte most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kenyatte in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (165 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 Kenyatte in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenyatte a male name?
Yes, 66.8% of people registered as Kenyatte 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 Kenyatte still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenyatte 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 Kenyatte 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 Kenyatte?
You can see how many Americans are named Kenyatte on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.