Joe Kennedy
There are approximately 125 people named Joe Kennedy living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,742,035 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Joe with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Kennedy. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
125
1 in 2,742,035
Named Joe
217K
Alive today
Named Kennedy
197K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 217K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1936
Average age: 63
Top Census group: White (60.9%)
Estimated bearers: 197K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #149
Per 100K: 57.36
Top ancestry: White (78.0%)
First name trend
Joe: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Joe. The peak year was 1936 with 8,266 births. The average person named Joe today is 63 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joe
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Joe, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 60.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Joe described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Joe at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White60.9% · 168,012
- Hispanic or Latino21.4% · 59,015
- Black or African American11.8% · 32,574
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 7,996
- Two or more races2.0% · 5,587
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2,687
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Kennedy surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Kennedy, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 78.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Kennedy described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Kennedy at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White78.0% · 133,785
- Black or African American13.3% · 22,762
- Two or more races3.9% · 6,618
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 5,980
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1,289
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1,023
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Joe has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0633% of the US population, based on 217,107 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Joe right now.
The surname Kennedy appears at a rate of 57.36 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0574%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 125 people with the full name Joe Kennedy. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Joe
Related
Other people with the surname Kennedy
FAQ
Joe Kennedy: questions and answers
How many people are named Joe Kennedy?
We estimate approximately 125 people in the United States share the full name Joe Kennedy. That works out to about 1 in 2,742,035 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0633%) with the surname frequency (57.36 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Joe Kennedy?
We classify Joe Kennedy as "Very Rare". About 1 in 2,742,035 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Joe a male or female name?
Joe is predominantly male. Out of 464,326 total SSA registrations, 97.6% were male and 2.4% were female. See the full Joe profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are named Joe Kennedy?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the name Joe Kennedy is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.