Kwabena
A masculine given name of Akan origin meaning "born on Tuesday."
Name Census estimates that about 684 living Americans carry the first name Kwabena. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kwabena today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kwabena births was 2004 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kwabena. 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 Kwabena with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
684
~ 1 in 501,103 Americans
Peak year
2004
28 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,776
Tracked since 1970
Census
Kwabena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,426 people with the first name Kwabena, which placed it at #9,659 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
#9,659
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,426 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
95.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kwabena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwabena is Black at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.0%) and White (1.4%). 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 Kwabena 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 Kwabena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.1% · 1,356
- Two or more races2.0% · 28
- White1.4% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Kwabena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kwabena 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 182 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kwabena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kwabena 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 Kwabena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kwabenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Virginia, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Kwabena, while New Jersey, Virginia, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kwabena
Kwabena is a given name of West African origin, specifically from the Akan people of Ghana. It is derived from the Akan word "kwaben," which means "born on Tuesday." In the Akan naming tradition, children are given names based on the day of the week they were born.
The Akan people have a long history dating back to the 11th century, and their naming practices have been an integral part of their cultural identity. The name Kwabena was commonly given to boys born on Tuesdays, and it was believed to imbue them with the qualities associated with that day, such as strength and resilience.
The name Kwabena can be traced back to ancient Akan texts and oral traditions, where it was often used to refer to significant figures or characters in stories and folktales. However, there are no specific historical records or ancient texts that directly reference the name's origins or earliest usage.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kwabena is from the 17th century, when it was mentioned in the writings of European travelers and traders who visited the region. These accounts provide insights into the cultural practices and naming traditions of the Akan people during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kwabena. One such figure was Kwabena Agyeman Badu (1860-1923), a Ghanaian warrior and leader who played a significant role in the Yaa Asantewaa War against British colonial rule in the late 19th century.
Another prominent Kwabena was Kwabena Adusei (1892-1966), a Ghanaian educator and political activist who advocated for independence and served as a member of the Legislative Council in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) during the colonial era.
Kwabena Prempeh (1923-2003) was a renowned Ghanaian artist and sculptor, known for his intricate woodcarvings and contributions to the development of contemporary Ghanaian art.
Kwabena Baah (1928-2008) was a Ghanaian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and played a crucial role in Ghana's international relations during the post-independence period.
Kwabena Nketia (1921-2019) was a distinguished Ghanaian ethnomusicologist, composer, and scholar who made significant contributions to the study and preservation of African music and cultural traditions.
These individuals, among many others, have carried the name Kwabena throughout history, contributing to various fields and leaving lasting legacies in their respective domains.
People
Kwabena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kwabena 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
Kwabena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kwabena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 684 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kwabena 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 501,103 US residents.
Is Kwabena a common name?
We classify Kwabena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 701 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kwabena most popular?
The single biggest year for Kwabena was 2004, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kwabena is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kwabena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,426 people with the name Kwabena, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,659 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 Kwabena 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 Kwabena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kwabena appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,420 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Kwabena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwabena is Black at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.0%) and White (1.4%). 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 Kwabena most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kwabena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.1% (1,356 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 Kwabena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kwabena a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kwabena 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 Kwabena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kwabena 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 Kwabena 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 are named Kwabena?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Kwabena at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.