Kwami
Of African origin, meaning "twin" or "born after twins".
Name Census estimates that about 38 living Americans carry the first name Kwami. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kwami today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kwami births was 1994 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kwami. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kwami. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
38
~ 1 in 9,019,851 Americans
Peak year
1994
7 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,217
Tracked since 1975
Census
Kwami in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 193 people with the first name Kwami, which placed it at #39,252 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
#39,252
National first-name rank
People counted
193
193 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kwami
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwami is Black at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and White (3.1%). 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 Kwami 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 Kwami at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.7% · 175
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 7
- White3.1% · 6
- Two or more races2.6% · 5
Popularity
Kwami: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kwami from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 18 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kwami 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 Kwami 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 Kwami
The name Kwami is believed to have originated from the Akan language spoken in parts of West Africa, primarily in Ghana and Ivory Coast. It is derived from the word "kwame," which means "born on Saturday" in the Akan tradition of naming children based on the day of the week they were born.
Historically, the name Kwami has been used by various ethnic groups within the Akan people, such as the Asante, Fante, and Bono. Its usage can be traced back several centuries, although the exact origins are somewhat obscure due to the oral nature of African naming traditions.
In terms of historical references, the name Kwami has been documented in various written records and texts from the region, particularly in genealogical records and oral histories passed down through generations. However, it is not widely associated with any specific ancient texts or religious scriptures.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kwami can be found in the historical accounts of the Asante Empire, which ruled over parts of present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast from the late 17th to the late 19th century. During this period, several prominent figures with the name Kwami held positions of power and influence within the empire.
Throughout history, there have been notable individuals who bore the name Kwami. Some examples include:
1. Kwami Nkrumah (1909-1972), a Ghanaian political leader and revolutionary who led Ghana to independence from British colonial rule and served as the country's first prime minister and president.
2. Kwami Sefa Kayi (born 1962), a Ghanaian radio personality and broadcaster, known for hosting the popular "Kokrokoo" morning show on Peace FM in Ghana.
3. Kwami Haile (born 1975), an American-born Ghanaian professional basketball player who played in various leagues, including the NBA and the Euroleague.
4. Kwami Kilpatrick (born 1970), an American former politician who served as the mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 2002 to 2008, before resigning due to a corruption scandal.
5. Kwami Agbodza (born 1985), a Ghanaian politician and member of parliament, representing the Adaklu constituency in the Volta Region of Ghana.
While the name Kwami has its roots in the Akan culture of West Africa, it has gained recognition and usage beyond its traditional boundaries, being adopted by individuals of various backgrounds and nationalities across the globe.
People
Kwami + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kwami 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
Kwami: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kwami?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 38 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kwami 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 9,019,851 US residents.
Is Kwami a common name?
We classify Kwami as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 39 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kwami most popular?
The single biggest year for Kwami was 1994, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kwami is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kwami in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 193 people with the name Kwami, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,252 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 Kwami 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 Kwami?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kwami leans strongly male. 184 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.1%). 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 Kwami?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwami is Black at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and White (3.1%). 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 Kwami most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kwami in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (175 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 Kwami in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kwami a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kwami 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 Kwami still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kwami 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 Kwami 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 Kwami?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Kwami, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.