Ken

Boy name

Ken has been given to 33,043 babies in the U.S. since 1900. It peaked in 1960.

Meaning & origin /kɛn/

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

33,043

Peak year

1960 (1,780 babies)

Rank in 2025

Below top 1000

First recorded

1900

10-year trend

▼ -59%

Gender split

0% girls / 100% boys

Famous people named Ken

Ken Kesey

American novelist (1935–2001)

Ken Watanabe

Japanese actor

Ken Naganuma

Japanese association football player and manager (1930–2008)

Ken Noritake

Japanese association football player (1922–1994)

Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).

Names with a similar vibe

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Ken.

Darinboy

32,910 babies since 1948

Mickeyboy

34,173 babies since 1898

Terenceboy

34,460 babies since 1885

Stewartboy

31,285 babies since 1880

Bretboy

30,051 babies since 1926

Darrelboy

29,892 babies since 1900

Caryboy

29,827 babies since 1880

Martyboy

36,269 babies since 1896

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