Kemp

#4,953 in 2025Boys' name

Champion, athlete, warrior

Kemp has been given to 1,306 babies in the U.S. since 1898. In 2025 it ranked #4,953 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1957, with 31 recorded.

Babies named Kemp, 2025

1 in 166,000

Kemp over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kemp: meaning, origin, and history

Champion, athlete, warrior

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kemp means

Kemp means “champion, athlete, warrior”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,306 boys were recorded with the name Kemp between 1898 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 31 in 1957; its best national rank was #1,223 in 1898.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #8,409 in 2020 to #4,953 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #6,153 in 2015 to #4,953 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Kemp?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 166,000; 20 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 85,400; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #4,953; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 114,896 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Kemp sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 114,896 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kemp. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kemps were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kemp was born before 1962 — so the typical Kemp is around 63 today.

Median birth year: 1962; About 63 years old
Biggest decade: 1960s; 14.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 19.2%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 896; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1960s — 14.7% of all recorded uses (192).

Is Kemp rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: +1,085; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +3,456; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +1,200; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.43×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 64.5%; Peak was 1957 (31)
Years since peak: 68; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 31.9% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,223; 1898

Spellings of Kemp

Kemp is not the most common spelling — Kent is, with 36.3% against Kemp's 0.68%.

Kent36.3%69,322
Kim18.3%34,951
Ken17.3%33,013
Remy6.5%12,484
Keon4.8%9,123
Kip4.5%8,568
Remi2.2%4,185
Kipp1.3%2,484

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Kemp is used

Across 1910–2025, Kemp was most concentrated in North Carolina — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 91,483 across all states with data.

11 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1North Carolina1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Kemp has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kemp by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #4,953
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 3,456
Best rank ever: #1,223; 1898
Peak year: 1957; 31 that year
First recorded: 1898
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 1,306
Count in 2025: 20

Names similar to Kemp

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Kemar Kemon Kemari Kemper Kemal Kemuel Kemani Kem Kemoni Kemet Kemarion Kemauri Kempton Kemo Kemond Kemonte Kemontae Kemmy Kemaury Kemonta Kemel Kemaj Kemonie Kemarri

Sibling names for Kemp

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Maribeth Valorie Carmel Jeanie Dinah Marita Lizabeth Joycelyn

For a brother

Russ Michel Val Dirk Artis Dannie Ernie Jeffry

Explore around Kemp

Top names of 1957, Kemp's peak year The 1950s in full Other names that peaked in 1898 Boys' names starting with K