Kinshasa
A feminine name of African origin meaning "the salt hunters".
Name Census estimates that about 113 living Americans carry the first name Kinshasa. It is a predominantly female name (95.1% of registrations). The average person named Kinshasa today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kinshasa births was 1975 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kinshasa. 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
113
~ 1 in 3,033,224 Americans
Peak year
1975
24 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1975 SSA rank
#5,145
Tracked since 1971
Census
Kinshasa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 149 people with the first name Kinshasa, which placed it at #45,514 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
#45,514
National first-name rank
People counted
149
149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kinshasa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinshasa is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Kinshasa 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 Kinshasa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.9% · 131
- Two or more races5.4% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 5
- White2.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Kinshasa
Kinshasa leans heavily female at 95.1% of total registrations, but 6 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kinshasa as a male name
- Ranked #5,145 in 1975
- 6 male births in 1975
- Peak: 1975 (6 births)
Kinshasa as a female name
- Ranked #11,472 in 1997
- 7 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1977 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kinshasa leans strongly female. 124 people counted with this name were female (82.1%), compared with 27 male bearers (17.9%).
Popularity
Kinshasa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kinshasa 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 89 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
Kinshasa 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 Kinshasa 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 Kinshasa
The given name Kinshasa has its origins in the Kongo language, which is primarily spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, and the Republic of the Congo. The name is derived from the Kongo word "kinshasa," which means "a gathered crowd" or "a place of assembly."
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, situated on the banks of the Congo River. The city was founded in 1881 as a trading post by Sir Henry Morton Stanley, a Welsh-American explorer and journalist. The name Kinshasa was given to the settlement due to its location near a major Kongo village, where people would gather for trade and other activities.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kinshasa can be traced back to the late 19th century, when the city was established. However, the name itself likely predates the founding of the city, as it is derived from the Kongo language, which has been spoken in the region for centuries.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the first name Kinshasa. One of the most prominent figures was Kinshasa Nzau (1905-1985), a Congolese politician and diplomat who served as the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after its independence from Belgium in 1960.
Another notable individual was Kinshasa Ngoy (1920-1998), a Congolese musician and composer who was influential in the development of Congolese rumba music. He is considered one of the pioneers of modern Congolese music.
Kinshasa Kalonji (1939-2015) was a Congolese writer and academic who authored several books on Congolese literature and culture. He was also a professor at the University of Kinshasa and played a significant role in promoting Congolese literature on an international stage.
Kinshasa Mbenza (1955-present) is a Congolese painter and sculptor who has gained recognition for his unique style that blends traditional African art with modern influences. His works have been exhibited in various countries around the world.
Kinshasa Lukeni (1965-present) is a Congolese football coach and former player. He played for several clubs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and had a successful career as a striker. After retiring as a player, he transitioned into coaching and has managed several teams in the Congolese league.
People
Kinshasa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kinshasa 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
Kinshasa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kinshasa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kinshasa 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 3,033,224 US residents.
Is Kinshasa a common name?
We classify Kinshasa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kinshasa most popular?
The single biggest year for Kinshasa was 1975, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kinshasa is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kinshasa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 149 people with the name Kinshasa, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,514 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 Kinshasa 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 Kinshasa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kinshasa leans strongly female. 124 people counted with this name were female (82.1%), compared with 27 male bearers (17.9%). 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 Kinshasa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kinshasa is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Kinshasa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kinshasa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (131 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 Kinshasa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kinshasa a female name?
Yes, 95.1% of people registered as Kinshasa 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 Kinshasa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kinshasa 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 Kinshasa 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 Kinshasa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.