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Kenai

#713 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Kenai has been given to 2,465 babies in the U.S. since 1992. In 2025 it ranked #713 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 377 recorded.

Babies named Kenai, 2025

1 in 8,790

Kenai over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kenai: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kenai means

Kenai is a given name.

The naming story behind Kenai

Wikidata records Kenai as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q114283854, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,391 boys were recorded with the name Kenai between 1992 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 377 in 2025; its best national rank was #713 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,274 in 2020 to #713 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,079 in 2015 to #713 in 2025.

In the United States, 74 girls were recorded with the name Kenai between 2003 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2003; its best national rank was #13,137 in 2003.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #14,293 in 2020 to #14,070 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #15,469 in 2015 to #14,070 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.

How common is Kenai?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 8,790
377 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 4,530
0.02% of boys
Rank, 2025
#713
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
6,096 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kenai 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 1001%
School of 5006%

Put another way: gather 6,096 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kenai. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kenais were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kenai was born before 2021 — so the typical Kenai is around 4 today.

Median birth year
2021
About 4 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
59.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
99.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,391
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 59.6% of all recorded uses (1,426).

Is Kenai 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
+61
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+561
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,366
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
5.54×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (377)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#713
2025

Spellings of Kenai

Kenai is not the most common spelling — Kai is, with 22.3% against Kenai's 0.76%.

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 Kenai is used

Across 2016–2025, Kenai was most concentrated in Oklahoma — about 1 in 3,571 boys, against 1 in 10,961 across all states with data. It was least common in South Carolina (1 in 50,000).

228 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oklahoma1 in 3,571
  2. 2Colorado1 in 3,846
  3. 3Washington1 in 3,846
  4. 4Utah1 in 4,167
  5. 5Arizona1 in 5,000
  6. 6Alaska1 in 5,263
  7. 7Idaho1 in 5,263
  8. 8Oregon1 in 5,263

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.

Kenai around the world

Where Kenai ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2008–2025
    #2,952
    in 2025
  • France
    2005–2025
    #3,525
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2012–2024
    #1,011
    in 2024

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Kenai by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#713
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 561
Best rank ever
#713
2025
Peak year
2025
377 that year
First recorded
1992
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,391
Count in 2025
377

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#14,070
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 223
Best rank ever
#13,137
2003
Peak year
2003
7 that year
First recorded
2003
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
74
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Kenai

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

KenanKenzoKenjiKennonKentaKenethKenyaKennanKendalKenleyKentoKendricKennardKendonKenyonKenneyKenoKendrixKenrickKennthKendellKennerKensonKendry

Names with a curve like Kenai

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Kenai, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

WaylenErenTrueAsaiahDiorOziasRyattWrenEidenAlessioJiraiyaColeson

Sibling names for Kenai

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

Explore around Kenai

Top names of 2025, Kenai's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Boys' names starting with K