Kord
An Arabic name meaning "courageous, strong, or valiant."
Name Census estimates that about 445 living Americans carry the first name Kord. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kord today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kord births was 1990 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kord. 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
445
~ 1 in 770,234 Americans
Peak year
1990
23 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,430
Tracked since 1954
Census
Kord in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 420 people with the first name Kord, which placed it at #23,335 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
#23,335
National first-name rank
People counted
420
420 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kord
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kord is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Kord 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 Kord at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.8% · 352
- Two or more races5.2% · 22
- Black or African American5.0% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 3
Popularity
Kord: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kord from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 129 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kord 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 Kord 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 Kord
The name Kord is believed to have originated from the Persian language, with its roots tracing back to ancient Iran. The name is derived from the Persian word "kord," which means "courageous" or "brave." It is a name that has been in use for centuries, carrying a strong and powerful connotation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kord can be found in the ancient Persian epic, the Shahnameh, written by the celebrated poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. In this epic, Kord is mentioned as the name of a valiant warrior who fought bravely in battles alongside the legendary hero Rostam.
Throughout history, the name Kord has been borne by several notable figures. One of the earliest was Kord-e Bakhtiari, a powerful chieftain who led the Bakhtiari tribe in southwestern Iran during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He played a crucial role in the political and military affairs of the region during that period.
Another prominent figure with the name Kord was Kord Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and military leader who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He served as the Governor of Baghdad and played a significant role in the Ottoman Empire's military campaigns in the region.
In more recent history, Kord Valentin Ernsting, a German writer and journalist who lived from 1909 to 1981, is notable for his contributions to literature and journalism. His works focused on themes of social commentary and political satire.
Additionally, Kord Campbell, an American musician and songwriter born in 1962, has made a name for himself in the music industry. He is best known for his work as a member of the alternative rock band Blind Melon and for his solo projects.
The name Kord has also been found in various other cultures and languages, albeit with slightly different spellings or pronunciations. For instance, the Kurdish name "Kurd" is believed to share a similar linguistic root with the Persian "Kord," reflecting the cultural and linguistic connections between these regions.
People
Kord + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kord 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
Kord: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kord?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 445 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kord 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 770,234 US residents.
Is Kord a common name?
We classify Kord as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 460 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kord most popular?
The single biggest year for Kord was 1990, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kord is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kord in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 420 people with the name Kord, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,335 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 Kord 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 Kord?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kord appears almost entirely male. Of the 414 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Kord?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kord is White at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Kord most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kord in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.8% (352 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 Kord in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kord a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kord 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 Kord still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kord 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 Kord 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 Kord as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.