Kwesi
Of Akan origin, a masculine name meaning born on Sunday.
Name Census estimates that about 782 living Americans carry the first name Kwesi. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kwesi today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kwesi births was 1977 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kwesi. 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 Kwesi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
782
~ 1 in 438,305 Americans
Peak year
1977
31 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,038
Tracked since 1971
Census
Kwesi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,061 people with the first name Kwesi, which placed it at #11,902 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
#11,902
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,061 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kwesi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwesi is Black at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (2.0%). 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 Kwesi 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 Kwesi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.3% · 969
- Two or more races4.1% · 44
- White2.0% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Popularity
Kwesi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kwesi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 199 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
Kwesi 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 Kwesi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kwesis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Michigan, California recorded the most babies named Kwesi, while California, Michigan, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kwesi
The name Kwesi originates from the Akan people of West Africa, particularly Ghana and Ivory Coast. It is an Akan name derived from the word "kwesi," which means "born on Sunday." In the Akan naming tradition, children are given names based on the day of the week they were born.
Kwesi has been a popular name among the Akan people for centuries, with its roots tracing back to the ancient Akan kingdoms of Ghana and Ivory Coast. The name has been documented in various historical records and oral traditions passed down through generations.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kwesi can be found in the Kemet Nubian Resurrection Sphinx Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian papyrus dating back to the 15th century BCE. This papyrus mentions an individual named "Kwesi-Ankh," which translates to "Life of Sunday" or "Born on Sunday."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kwesi. One of the most famous was Kwesi Amissah-Arthur (1951-2018), a Ghanaian economist and politician who served as the Vice President of Ghana from 2013 to 2017.
Another prominent figure was Kwesi Brew (1928-2007), a Ghanaian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana from 1972 to 1974.
In the world of sports, Kwesi Appiah (born 1960) is a former Ghanaian professional footballer and the current head coach of the Ghana national football team.
Kwesi Brew (1972-2020) was a Ghanaian artist and sculptor known for his intricate woodcarvings and sculptures depicting traditional Akan culture and symbolism.
Kwesi Aning (born 1970) is a Ghanaian security analyst and the Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Kwesi throughout history, reflecting its deep cultural significance and enduring legacy within the Akan tradition.
People
Kwesi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kwesi 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
Kwesi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kwesi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 782 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kwesi 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 438,305 US residents.
Is Kwesi a common name?
We classify Kwesi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 810 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kwesi most popular?
The single biggest year for Kwesi was 1977, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kwesi is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kwesi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,061 people with the name Kwesi, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,902 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 Kwesi 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 Kwesi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kwesi leans strongly male. 1,050 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 15 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Kwesi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kwesi is Black at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (2.0%). 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 Kwesi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kwesi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.3% (969 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 Kwesi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kwesi a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kwesi 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 Kwesi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kwesi 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 Kwesi 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 share the name Kwesi?
Want to know how many people have the name Kwesi? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.