Keren
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "ray of light" or "horn".
Name Census estimates that about 4,729 living Americans carry the first name Keren. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keren today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keren births was 2019 (189 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keren. 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 Keren with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.7K
~ 1 in 72,479 Americans
Peak year
2019
189 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,174
Tracked since 1939
Census
Keren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,660 people with the first name Keren, which placed it at #3,614 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
#3,614
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,660 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
51.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keren is Hispanic at 51.3%. The next largest groups are White (31.1%) and Black (10.7%). 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 Keren 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 Keren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino51.3% · 2,901
- White31.1% · 1,760
- Black or African American10.7% · 608
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 294
- Two or more races1.5% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 12
Popularity
Keren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keren from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,301 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Keren remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Keren 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 Keren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kerens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Keren, while South Carolina, Ohio, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 142 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keren
The name Keren originates from the Hebrew language, with its roots dating back to ancient times in the Middle East. It is derived from the Hebrew word "קרן" (keren), which means "ray" or "beam" of light, often associated with the radiant rays of the sun or the horn of an animal.
In the Hebrew Bible, the word "keren" appears several times, often symbolizing strength, power, and exaltation. One notable reference is found in the Book of Psalms, where it is used to describe the metaphorical "lifting of the horn" as a sign of God's favor and blessing.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Keren can be traced back to the biblical period, where it was likely used as a symbolic name for children born during auspicious times or under significant circumstances. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until much later.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Keren was Keren-happuch, mentioned in the Book of Job as one of Job's three daughters. Her name is interpreted to mean "container of antimony" or "horn of eye-paint," alluding to her beauty and adornment.
In more recent history, notable figures with the name Keren include:
1. Keren Woodward (born 1961), an English singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group Bananarama.
2. Keren Hacarmel (born 1962), an Israeli former Olympic swimmer and multiple medallist in the Maccabiah Games.
3. Keren Ann Zeidel (born 1974), an American-Israeli singer-songwriter and musician, known for her blend of folk and jazz styles.
4. Keren Elazari (born 1983), an Israeli cybersecurity analyst, researcher, and public speaker known for her work in the field of cybersecurity.
5. Keren Peles (born 1990), an Israeli actress and model, known for her roles in television series and films.
While the name Keren has Hebrew roots, it has also been adopted and used in various cultures around the world, carrying with it the symbolic meanings of light, strength, and beauty.
People
Keren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keren 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
Keren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,729 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keren 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 72,479 US residents.
Is Keren a common name?
We classify Keren as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,946 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keren most popular?
The single biggest year for Keren was 2019, when 189 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keren is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,660 people with the name Keren, or 1.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,614 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 Keren 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 Keren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keren leans strongly female. 5,563 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 103 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Keren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keren is Hispanic at 51.3%. The next largest groups are White (31.1%) and Black (10.7%). 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 Keren most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Keren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.3% (2,901 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 Keren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keren a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keren 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 Keren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keren 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 Keren 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 Americans are named Keren?
See how many people share the name Keren on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.