Kenzo
An energetic Japanese name meaning "wise scholar" or "healthy offspring".
Name Census estimates that about 4,190 living Americans carry the first name Kenzo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kenzo today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kenzo births was 2022 (596 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kenzo. 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 Kenzo with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kenzo is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.2K
~ 1 in 81,803 Americans
Peak year
2022
596 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#586
Tracked since 1920
Census
Kenzo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,596 people with the first name Kenzo, which placed it at #8,916 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
#8,916
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,596 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
26.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kenzo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenzo is Black at 26.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.8%) and Two or More Races (22.0%). 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 Kenzo 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 Kenzo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American26.9% · 429
- Asian and Pacific Islander25.8% · 412
- Two or more races22.0% · 351
- Hispanic or Latino17.8% · 284
- White6.9% · 110
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Kenzo
Out of the 4,247 babies given the name Kenzo since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Kenzo as a male name
- Ranked #586 in 2024
- 485 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (596 births)
Kenzo as a female name
- Ranked #16,803 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2019 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenzo leans strongly male. 1,577 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 17 female bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Kenzo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kenzo from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,608 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kenzo 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 Kenzo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kenzos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Kenzo, while Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 93 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kenzo
The name Kenzo originated in Japan and has its roots in the Japanese language. It is a combination of two Japanese words: "ken" meaning "healthy" or "strong," and "zo" meaning "offspring" or "child." Therefore, the name Kenzo can be interpreted as "strong child" or "healthy child."
The earliest recorded use of the name Kenzo dates back to the Heian period in Japan, which lasted from 794 to 1185 AD. During this time, the name was primarily used by noble families and samurai clans. It was a popular choice for sons, as it conveyed a sense of strength and resilience, qualities that were highly valued in Japanese culture.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Kenzo can be found in the "Tale of Genji," a classic work of Japanese literature written in the early 11th century by Murasaki Shikibu. In this epic novel, one of the characters bears the name Kenzo, further solidifying its use during the Heian period.
Throughout the centuries, the name Kenzo has been borne by several notable figures in Japanese history. One such individual was Kenzo Tange (1913-2005), a renowned Japanese architect who designed several iconic structures, including the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
Another famous Kenzo was Kenzo Okuzaki (1888-1966), a Japanese military officer and politician who served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Japan from 1934 to 1936. His tenure was marked by the escalation of tensions between Japan and China, leading to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
In the realm of art, Kenzo Tange (1923-2005), a Japanese fashion designer, gained international recognition for his eponymous fashion label, Kenzo. His innovative designs blended Japanese aesthetics with Western influences, earning him a place among the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century.
Moving to the literary world, Kenzo Kitakata (1907-1978) was a prominent Japanese novelist and essayist known for his works that explored the complexities of human relationships and the duality of traditional and modern Japanese society.
Finally, Kenzo Koshi (1911-1983) was a Japanese potter and ceramist renowned for his innovative techniques and contributions to the field of modern Japanese ceramics. His works are celebrated for their unique forms and intricate glazes, and are held in high regard by collectors and museums around the world.
People
Kenzo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kenzo 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
Kenzo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kenzo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,190 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kenzo 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 81,803 US residents.
Is Kenzo a common name?
We classify Kenzo as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,247 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kenzo most popular?
The single biggest year for Kenzo was 2022, when 596 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kenzo is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kenzo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,596 people with the name Kenzo, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,916 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 Kenzo 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 Kenzo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kenzo leans strongly male. 1,577 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 17 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Kenzo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kenzo is Black at 26.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.8%) and Two or More Races (22.0%). 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 Kenzo most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kenzo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 26.9% (429 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 Kenzo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kenzo a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Kenzo 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 Kenzo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kenzo 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 Kenzo 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 are named Kenzo?
Find out how many people have the name Kenzo on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.