Kery
A feminine name of modern origin derived from the English word "kerry" meaning "dark-haired one".
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the first name Kery. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 55.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Kery today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kery births was 1978 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kery. 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
124
~ 1 in 2,764,148 Americans
Peak year
1978
13 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1991 SSA rank
#8,934
Tracked since 1961
Census
Kery in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 480 people with the first name Kery, which placed it at #21,231 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
#21,231
National first-name rank
People counted
480
480 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kery
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kery is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.3%) and Black (15.8%). 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 Kery 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 Kery at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.7% · 248
- Hispanic or Latino21.3% · 102
- Black or African American15.8% · 76
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 29
- Two or more races3.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Kery
Kery is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 136 total registrations, 60 (44.1%) were male and 76 (55.9%) were female.
Kery as a male name
- Ranked #8,934 in 1991
- 5 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1987 (8 births)
Kery as a female name
- Ranked #11,555 in 1989
- 6 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1978 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kery on both sides of the split. Of the 479 people counted with this name, 194 were male (40.5%) and 285 were female (59.5%).
Popularity
Kery: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kery from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 58 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
Kery 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 Kery during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kery
The given name Kery is believed to have originated from the Old English word "cere," which means "to turn or bend." This word likely evolved from the Proto-Germanic root "kerzjan," which had a similar meaning. The name's earliest known spelling was "Ceri," and it was primarily used in Anglo-Saxon England during the 7th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kery can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals describing the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The entry from the year 692 mentions a person named "Ceri" who was involved in a battle against the Britons.
In the 9th century, an English monk and scholar named Kery of Auxerre (c. 815 - c. 865) gained recognition for his contributions to the study of grammar and rhetoric. He taught at the cathedral school in Auxerre, France, and his works were widely studied in medieval Europe.
Another notable figure with the name Kery was Kery the Venerable (c. 675 - 735), an English Benedictine monk and scholar who served as the Abbot of Wearmouth-Jarrow. He is renowned for his extensive writings on various subjects, including history, hagiography, and biblical exegesis.
In the 13th century, Kery of Huntingdon (c. 1205 - c. 1270) was an English chronicler and historian who wrote a significant work titled "Historia Anglorum" (History of the English), which covered events from the time of the Roman invasion to the reign of King Henry II.
During the Renaissance period, Kery Wynne (c. 1550 - 1624) was a Welsh poet and writer who contributed to the development of Welsh literature. He is particularly known for his collection of poems titled "Cwrs y Byd" (The Course of the World), which explored various themes related to life and society.
While the name Kery has its roots in Old English and was more commonly used in the past, it has become relatively uncommon in modern times. However, its historical significance and unique origin make it an interesting and noteworthy name within the field of onomatology.
People
Kery + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kery 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
Kery: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kery?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 124 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kery 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 2,764,148 US residents.
Is Kery a common name?
We classify Kery as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 136 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kery most popular?
The single biggest year for Kery was 1978, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kery is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kery in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 480 people with the name Kery, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,231 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 Kery 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 Kery?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kery on both sides of the split. Of the 479 people counted with this name, 194 were male (40.5%) and 285 were female (59.5%). 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 Kery?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kery is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.3%) and Black (15.8%). 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 Kery most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kery in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.7% (248 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 Kery in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kery a female name?
Yes, 55.9% of people registered as Kery 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 Kery still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kery 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 Kery 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 have the name Kery?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Kery, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.