Kofi
A masculine name of Ghanaian origin meaning "born on Friday".
Name Census estimates that about 1,480 living Americans carry the first name Kofi. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Kofi today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kofi births was 2004 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kofi. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 231,591 Americans
Peak year
2004
55 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,641
Tracked since 1970
Gender
Gender distribution for Kofi
Out of the 1,516 babies given the name Kofi since 1880, 99.3% 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.
Kofi as a male name
- Ranked #3,641 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (55 births)
Kofi as a female name
- Ranked #16,464 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1976 (5 births)
Popularity
Kofi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kofi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 390 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kofi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kofi 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 Kofi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kofis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Maryland recorded the most babies named Kofi, while Texas, Florida, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kofi
The given name Kofi originates from the Akan language spoken by the Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast. It dates back several centuries and is derived from the Akan word "kɔfrɪ" which means "born on Friday."
In the traditional Akan culture, a person's name is often assigned based on the day of the week they were born. Kofi is one of the male names given to children born on Friday. The corresponding female name for Friday births is Afua.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kofi can be found in the Akan oral traditions and folklore. It is believed to have been in use for several centuries before the arrival of European colonizers in West Africa.
Throughout history, there have been notable individuals who bore the name Kofi. One of the most famous was Kofi Annan, the Ghanaian diplomat and the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. He was born on April 8, 1938, and passed away on August 18, 2018.
Another notable Kofi was Kofi Abrefa Busia, a Ghanaian teacher, politician, and Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972. He was born on July 11, 1913, and died on August 28, 1978.
In the world of sports, Kofi Annan Boateng was a Ghanaian professional footballer who played as a midfielder for several clubs in Europe, including Nottingham Forest and Hertha BSC. He was born on December 3, 1968, and is still alive.
Kofi Kingston, whose real name is Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah, is a Ghanaian-American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE. He was born on August 14, 1981, and has been a prominent figure in the wrestling industry for over a decade.
Kofi Abrefa Ofori-Attah was a Ghanaian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Education and Culture from 1976 to 1979. He was born on November 24, 1921, and passed away on August 2, 1992.
These examples illustrate the long-standing cultural significance and widespread use of the name Kofi among the Akan people and beyond, spanning various fields such as politics, diplomacy, sports, and entertainment.
People
Kofi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kofi 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
Kofi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kofi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,480 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kofi 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 231,591 US residents.
Is Kofi a common name?
We classify Kofi as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,516 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kofi most popular?
The single biggest year for Kofi was 2004, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kofi is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kofi a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Kofi 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.
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.